


Meet the Wayne's

by Demona9999



Category: Batman (Comics), Batman - All Media Types, Batman Beyond
Genre: Bruce Wayne is a Good Parent, Damian "fight me" Wayne strikes again by challenging another sibling to a fight the second they meet, Dick is still the best at dealing with Waynes, Gen, Jason is working on being back to life soon in this fic, Terry is surprised by that, btw I approach canon in the "what I like stays and what I dont didnt happen" way, but Hush Beyond did cause I kinda liked that comic, he kinda evolves from denial to the you are my dad vine on the Bruce being his dad thing, how did this get this long, like that whole Bruce and Barbara thing from the DCAU? yeah that didnt happen, references to Canon typical violence, references to past character death, the dimensional differences are weird for everyone, this fic has no plot this is just people hanging out for a week, with both teh comics and the DCAU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-30
Updated: 2020-02-17
Packaged: 2021-02-27 09:59:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 45,314
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22035193
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Demona9999/pseuds/Demona9999
Summary: Terry McGinnis somehow gets transported to the regular DC universe and is surprised by the colony of Bat family members that he finds around Bruce.
Relationships: Cassandra Cain & Tim Drake & Dick Grayson & Jason Todd & Bruce Wayne & Damian Wayne, Dick Grayson & Terry McGinnis, Terry McGinnis & Bruce Wayne, Terry McGinnis & Cassandra Cain, Terry McGinnis & Damian Wayne, Terry McGinnis & Jason Todd, Tim Drake & Terry McGinnis
Comments: 132
Kudos: 600





	1. Chapter 1

“This is fine. There must be a rational explanation, probably” Terry muttered to himself as he looked around in confusion. The city was off. He didn't know exactly what happened, but some kind of flash blinded him and suddenly he had found himself in a completely different place of where he had been.

Right then he was in the old part of town, near that place Wayne had taken him to see where his parents had been murdered. He was pretty sure it was called Crime Alley, tough apparently the real name of the place had been Park Row once. But it was… new. In an old way. There were no flying cars and the whole place looked pretty beaten up, but not destroyed like it had been last time he had been there. Definetely not to the earthquake level destroyed. 

There were normal cars around and some people seemingly living there, a part of town that should have been deserted. It was so weird. It was almost like… he was in the past. But that couldn't be, could it? Those kinds of things didn't happen. Although… Wayne had told him about weird time travel incidents he had been involved in a couple of times. Apparently he had gone to the old west once, and refused to use guns, because of course he did. 

His thoughts were interrupted when someone landed right next to him on the rooftop he had been observing the city from. He was a pretty muscled up man, wearing a red helmet and a brown leather jacket. He had guns strapped to his thighs, which made Terry frown when he saw the big red bat symbol on the mans chest. Guns and bats didn’t mix. The old man hated guns, it was a known fact that Batman hated guns, so why would someone using them wear a bat symbol? 

“Okay, who the fuck are you and what are you doing in my neighbourhood?” the red helmet man asked, with a strange mix of annoyance and fondness. “And since when is there a new Bat in town? Who are you, Red Bat or something like that? Why does everyone always go for the colour red, there’s so many of us in red already” 

“Uuuuh” Terry managed, trying to process all that. Ok. So the guy clearly must work for Wayne if he was wearing a bat symbol. But the old man was retired, and he didn't really go out to get partners anymore. And this guy didn't look like any of his old partners either. Also he had guns, which didn't seem to be something the old man would tolerate in a partner anyway. But... the city looked different, there was no neo Gotham above, there were no flying cars, Crime Alley wasn't destroyed. He just had to know “What year is it?” 

“2019? Why are you asking that?” the man immediately answered, and Terry felt somehow both relieved and more confused. 

“Uh. And Batman is still around?” Terry asked. As far as he knew Wayne had retired from being Batman precisely in 2019, so either he was really early in the year or.... 

“Obviously?” the man responded, clearly getting more weirded out by the conversation the more it dragged on. “Who the hell are you kid?” 

“Would you believe me if I told you I’m Batman” Terry said, and the helmeted man began to laugh. A clearly amused laugh. 

“HAH! Nice try, but you are a bit too short and slim, not to mention young, to be the old man” he managed to say after his laugh had calmed down. 

“So you know him?” Terry asked hopefully. If this strange man knew Wayne and worked with him maybe he could get him to the old man would know what to do. He always did. 

“What, he got a new brat and he didn't mention me?” scoffed the man, seemingly a bit offended. 

“Uh… it would be a bit too hard to explain here, just… could you take me to him?” he really didn’t want to go into an explanation of his connection to Wayne out here in the middle of Crime Alley, surely it wasn't the safest place even in the past… or other dimension… or wherever he had ended up. 

“I hope you know you are more suspicious by the second” the masked man remarked while pointing a finger at him. Terry had to give him that. It was true, if some guy he didn’t know had just showed up in front of him asking him to take him to the old Batman he also would have been wary as hell. But he couldn't think of what else to do. The man was looking at him with more attention now, pensive “Actually now that I look at you better I feel like I’ve seen you before...” 

“I highly doubt that” Terry immediately answered. If this was the past, or some other dimension, he couldn't have seen him before. 

“No, no, I think I have seen you somewhere… or at least that costume. But where though…” Terry couldn't see the guys face, but he could tell he had to be frowning “Ah! I remember now!” he finally exclaimed, snapping his fingers “It was when I was in that multiverse trip, I saw you kick some gang of guys dressed like the Joker. I always wondered who the hell you where since you clearly weren’t the old man... ” 

So this guy had gone on a trip to other universes before and seen him. Go figure. This probably simplified matters. “Um yeah, so… I think I might be from a different universe? Could you take me to the cave?” 

“So you know about the cave too… I was in that universe a very short time and didn’t even talk to you, I can't really know if you were just some guy who decided to be Batman out of nowhere or was actually taken in by B...” that made the man pause. 

Terry knew Wayne didn't let anyone into the cave without trusting them at least a bit, maybe that would be enough, although.... 

He could do better. 

“I know… I know who the old man is, too…” he began and quickly corrected himself “I mean, I know who Batman is” Knowing the secret identity had to be the real proof of confidence, surely, and if this guy wasn’t working for Wayne or didn’t know who he actually was it’s not like anyone would believe Bruce Wayne was Batman. 

“... come here and whisper it to me then, and if you are wrong, you're gonna get a rubber bullet and probably a beatdown because impersonating a bat isn't nice, it's very dangerous and should be discouraged” the man said “Like impersonating a police officer, that's also a serious crime, same deal” 

“Okay?” so the gun had rubber bullets too? Weird. But it made a bit more sense, not lethal force. He got nearer and whispered “He is Bruce Wayne” 

“...alright. This is weird as fuck, but so is our whole lives so hey, whatever. Let’s take you there and then the old man can decide what we do from there” he hit the side of his helmet, probably opening a communication channel “Hey, B, I got a weird situation here” there was a small pause in which Bruce must have answered him “Weird as in some kid wearing a weird Bat costume from another dimension has showed up and knows who you are, he wants me to take him to the cave” 

* * *

On the way to the cave Terry had gathered that this guys vigilante name was Red Hood and he patrolled Crime Alley. Which seemed like a part of town that likely needed its own vigilante from what he knew of the place, so that made enough sense. 

What really surprised him was that the whole city was different. No flying cars, no Neo Gotham above… it still was a pretty bad city tough. Gotham never truly changes that much, he supposed. When they finally got there the cave looked different from the one he knew too. The computer was obviously different, as were many of the gadgets around, but obviously technology would different twenty years in the past for him. There were some different trophies, and some of the ones he saw in his version of the cave weren't there like the Harley Quinn costume case. Speaking of costumes the row of Bat clan costumes wasn't there, but there were some individual costumes in cases. There was also a strangely empty case in a place of prominence, like some important costume had just been removed for some reason. 

Somehow the T-rex and the giant penny where still there. Maybe they were universal constants and where there in any Bat cave ever. 

He stopped his mental comparison between caves when he noticed the old man. He had seen him younger before, during that whole Ra’s incident, but it was still very weird. He had to be in his mid to late 30s, and had some grey hairs but not to the point Ra’s had left him back in that momentary rejuvenation. 

His blue eyes were just as intense as ever as he glared at Terry, looking him up and down with clear suspicion. “...who are you?” he asked, straight to the point. 

That question made Terry take his mask off, deciding it was time to reveal himself “The name is Terry. Terry McGiniss” 

“...I don't know you” Wayne said, crossing his arms. 

“But I know you. I’m… well I’m from the future, in another dimension, I guess” he managed to say. He felt very judged by Wayne's cold stare and disappointed dad look with the crossed arms, how the hell did he manage that. 

“You guess?” he arched an eyebrow. 

“Well, where I came from in 2019 you were like sixty and you retired, and also this Red Hood guy didn't exist, so… seems more likely different dimension than just time travel, right?” he argued. He had been thinking about it all the way there after all, this just couldn't be his own dimensions past with that much difference. 

“...what year did you come from” Wayne said. It wasn't really said with the intonation of a question, but it was. 

“2040” Terry easily answered. 

“And Bruce just let you be Batman there?” the Red Hood finally asked, after seemingly just spending a bit looking at Terry with interest. He had taken the helmet and the domino mask he wore under it for some reason off, revealing a young man with black hair with a white streak in the front and blue eyes with a tint of green. Terry had never seen him before. 

“Yeah, well, I kinda… uh… well at first I stole the suit?” he admitted, and the guy just laughed out loud. Apparently he was more cheerful than the old man, that was good at least. 

“Bruce, do you have a thing for adopting kids that steal from you? Is this a thing?” he jabbed Wayne with his elbow, and the man just sighed, like he was used to being… teased? Was the old man being teased? Sure Terry teased him back in their own dimension, but usually he didn't get a reaction at all besides a deadpan stare. This was all kinds of weird. 

After that weirdness registered Terry realized that it was also weird that the guy had just assumed Terry was adopted by Wayne for some reason. “I’m not adopted” he protested, not understanding why that assumption would even be made. 

“Really? That's weird, you fit the type” he started counting with his fingers “Black hair, blue eyes, orphan…?” he paused after that last one, tilting his head questioningly. 

“...my mother is alive” Terry said, answering the unsaid question, but then he frowned “But… my father is dead, he was murdered, that was what… started the whole Batman thing” he sighed, not knowing how to even get into all of that. “Look, is a long story?” 

“We have time” Wayne said, sitting down on the main computers chair and looking at Terry expectatinly. The younger guy also seemed eager to listen, so Terry sighed again, deciding to start from the beginning. 

“Okay, okay, fine. So it all started when I had a fight with my dad and ran off, some jokers went after me and I managed to outrun them for a bit until I crashed a bike in front of Wayne manor. I started to fight them and then you appeared” he pointed at Wayne “Or well, my dimension Bruce Wayne, way older than you here. He helped me fight them off, but it made his heart act up so I helped him into his home. I found the cave by accident while I was there, and he kicked me out” he shrugged “But… when I got home I discovered my dad had been murdered. So I got into the cave and stole the suit so I could get his murderer. You found out, obviously, tried to shut the suit down. But in the end we kinda got to an understanding. Then a lot of things happened, but the point is I’m Batman now” 

“Uh… and if you are not Bruce’s adoptive kid then what are you? Because you gotta be by the manor a lot to get away with this” the Red Hood asked. 

“I’m his assistant” Terry answered, which made the guy laugh again and Wayne frown. 

“Assistant?” he repeated, as if offended by the mere notion. 

“You are old and live alone, it works” Terry shrugged, and couldn't help but smile a bit at how much the old man had to hate that people would think he'd need an assistant. 

“All alone? Not even the demon brat hangs around?” the Red Hood guy asked. 

“Who?” Terry frowned. He didn't know any demons, or at least not any that hang around Wayne… well that Etrigan guy was a demon and used to be in the justice league, he supposed, but he decidedly wouldn't be a brat. 

“The demon brat? You know, Damian? Damian Wayne?” the guy said, like what he had just said wasn't outrageous. Damian WAYNE? WAYNE??? 

“What? You have a son here?!” Terry just looked at Wayne with complete surprise, but the old man was seemingly complete unfaced. 

“I have four sons and a daughter here” he actually said, and Terry had to take a step back and run a hand through his hair to calm down with that information. 

“Woah, thats… thats a lot, what the hell?” he mumbled. Four sons and a daughter? Bruce Wayne, the old man who just let his own dog and Terry be his only company in his huge manor, with four sons and a daughter. What the hell happened in this dimension? Unbelievable. 

“To be fair three of those sons and the daughter are adopted, like me” the Red Hood said, apparently seeing how that high number of kids could be confusing “You said I wasn't in your dimension either? I’m Jason, Jason Todd, surely I’m the cautionary tale or something at least?” 

“Uh, no. Sorry?” Terry answered, not sure why would he say he would be a cautionary tale. “In my dimension I guess Wayne never met you?” he offered, since that seemed the most likely scenario. 

“...uh…” Jason frowned, lost in thought for a moment “Somehow that annoys me…” he muttered. Then something strange happened again, Wayne got up and patted Jason on the shoulder reassuringly, making the young man smile a bit. “I’m fine, B, it’s just… I guess our meeting was in a very concrete date and I must have missed it there, uh...?” 

“I'm sure my counterpart would have taken you in as well if he had met you” the older man said, and pulled out his phone, showing Terry what looked to be a family photo. It was a photo of Wayne surrounded by his five kids in one of the manors rooms, they apparently hadn't been kidding with the ludicrous number of children. Wayne started pointing at the different people in it as he gave short explanations, obviously trying to catch Terry up to speed with everyone “In this dimension I took Dick Grayson in as my ward first, adopted him later. Then I adopted Jason. Then Tim Drake. Then Cassandra Cain. Then Damian made his appearance” 

“I can see now why you though I might be adopted” Terry said after he finished, looking at Jason with a slight smile. All the adopted ones had black hair, and most had blue eyes. Yep, he did fit the type. 

“I know right? He has a problem with taking strays in” Jason smiled back as he pointed at the old man with a tilt of his head. 

“Did my counterpart have no one till you...?” Wayne asked, a touch of concern in his voice. 

“Well you had Dick Grayson and Tim Drake as Robins. And Barbara Gordon was Batgirl” Terry said “But that was it” 

There was a short pause and both Wayne and Jason nodded in thought. “I see…” Bruce finally said, sighing deeply “Well... until we can get you back to your dimension you should probably stay here” he suggested, walking over to the computer. 

“Yeah that's probably a good idea… can you even get me back to my dimension? I don't even know how I got here, there just a flash and poof! I’m here” 

“I’m sure we can work something out… let's start with a blood sample and a look at your suit to see if we can get anything from your dimension” Bruce muttered, looking through his computer files. 

“Well you seem to have everything under control here, I should get back to Crime Alley to finish up my patrol” Jason said, nodding and looking at Terry “Maybe I will see you around later, dimensional travel can be very weird and take a while” 

“Yeah, sure...?” he frowned, walking over to Wayne on the computer as he waved him goodbye, seeing him take a motorcycle.


	2. Chapter 2

Bruce was used to weird things happening in his life by now. Weird time and dimensional oddities happening wasn't that unusual either in the grand scheme of things, so finding someone from another dimension that was familiar with some other version of him wasn't that strange. What was strange was that Terry kept looking at him like he was some kind of apparition.

“What is it?” he finally asked him, making the kid stiffen and pretend he hadn't just been staring at him for a long while. 

“Ah, it's just… this is very weird” he mumbled, laughing softly. 

“Time and dimensional travel tends to be” Bruce sighed. At least he wasn’t having to deal with some kind of evil version of a hero or himself this time, he was very tired of those. Maybe Terry had ended up there because of all the dimensional travel that had been happening lately with those events. 

“I guess…? It's just… it's hard to imagine you with so many people around for me” Terry said, and Bruce had to wonder how his other dimensional counterpart could be even more antisocial than he was for that to be what was weirding this kid out. Sure, he had never been a people person and couldn't imagine any of his other selves being one, but... 

“...was it that bad…?” he asked, frowning a bit at his obvious question. Of course it had to be bad if this kid was reacting like this, he had just seen him interacting with Jason and in a family photo and somehow was impressed. 

“It just… you were alone, Bruce” Terry finally said, with some clear concern. 

Alone. He had always proclaimed he was a loner, but he had never actually been alone. Even before Dick came into the manor he had at least had Alfred, but if his counterpart was in his eighties then… “...all alone…” Bruce muttered, trying to picture it. 

“Well, I mean there's Ace the batdog” Terry chimed in “He is this big black dane mix, and you actually really like him, I saw you actually smile when he licked you. He used to be a dogfight dog, I think you picked him up in Crime Alley actually” he smiled a bit at the small chuckle Bruce let out at that piece of information. 

“Maybe Jason is right that I pick up too many strays…” he mumbled, toughtfull. He could picture himself taking in a stray dog fighting dog from Crime Alley, Damian would probably love such a dog to be added to the family. But this other version of himself didn’t have Damian either… he probably treasured that dog. 

“Maybe” Terry agreed, but seemed to sense his contemplative mood and elaborated on his other selves state “But… yeah, you were… all alone. In this big house... and it was just you and your dog” 

“What happened..?” he asked, almost too afraid to hear the answer. He could imagine letting himself fall so far into isolation after… after Jason's death. He could see how he could have driven everyone away in the state he was after it, but if Jason didn’t meet him in this other universe then he had not suffered his loss, so what could have happened to leave him in the state Terry found him in...? 

Terry had said he had Dick as Robin, so that probably went similarly to how things went for him, but Tim? How did Tim even come into the picture without the loss of Jason? How did he exit it? Had he… had he died in this alternate dimension? And Barbara, had she been crippled and perhaps never forgiven Bruce for letting the Joker still walk after that? Had she never become Oracle? 

“Well... Barbara and the other you still talk sometimes, but it's clearly really tense” Terry began explaining “She is the police commissioner, and doesn't like that you have me around doing the Batman thing at all, but just kinda lets us be for the most part” 

“She is the commissioner?” Bruce blinked in surprise. 

“Yeah, it’s really awkward… at least she does still talk to you… Dick and Tim don't talk to you at all if they can help it, haven't for years. Dick and you had a big falling out when he quit being Robin, you made up for a while but later when you worked together for a bit... there was an accident that left Dick riddled with bullets and got him into the hospital for a long while” Terry paused, crossing his arms and frowning “He still keeps the costume with all the blood on it, it's... intense...” 

That was bad enough. He had a falling out with Dick when he stopped being Robin as well, one that had only been exacerbated by taking in Jason and giving him the mantle of Robin. But he could feel there was more to this. “There is something you are not telling me there, isn't it?” 

“... Dick blamed you, because they were bullets you swiped away with the cape that hit him... he said you were so used to working alone that you didn't even realise he was there...” the boy explained, looking away “And that… when he got out of the hospital you didn’t even go see him, just told him he had a suit waiting for him or something like that…” 

“...no wonder he hates me then” Bruce concluded, a bit surprised by his other self’s actions. To swipe bullets in the direction of someone he was working with would be pretty horrible in itself, but to not even be there for him after that…. Perhaps his other self had been so ashamed to have accidentally hurt Dick that he had not dared to face him, but to just say he had a suit waiting for him… he could see how Dick would take that badly, take that as confirmation that he was being used as a mere tool. How could his other self not see that? 

“It’s pretty bad. Like at one point we thought he might have gone supervillain to take revenge on you for a bit bad. He didn't, but still… when I went to see him, he told me about all that and he kept telling me how you were manipulative and cold, and I should get away from you… that you were like a curse, or a poison” Terry explained, and Bruce just stared at him with a bit of sadness. Even if it was a different version of Dick, to know he had said such things about him… it hurt more than he'd like to admit. “I never believed that tough. It's hard to see I suppose, with the old man crankiness and all, but the old you is still a softie deep down” Terry said as he smiled proudly “I know it, I could see it peek through the cracks sometimes” 

Bruce stared at Terry with a newfound wonder. To hear about all that and still somehow believe in his Bruce, to call him a softie of all things. Only his kids ever called him things like that, only they believed in Bruce's goodness to such degree... 

This boy... he truly was one of them wasn’t he? Even if he was from a different dimension, he had the same kind of spirit as the rest of his little makeshift family. 

“...you are a good kid” Bruce smiled as he got up, getting close to ruffle Terry's hair almost on instinct. Terry froze for a moment, apparently caught off guard by the gesture, before he just looked at Bruce with awe. 

“Woaaah... this dimension you is soft on the outside too sometimes, that's… new…” he managed to mumble, and as he did no gesture to make Bruce stop he decided to just settle his hand on his shoulder when he was done ruffling his hair. 

“I am trying to do better. I... I also emotionally cut myself for a long time…” he began, taking a deep breath “In this dimension, Dick and I also had a fallout when I fired him from being Robin, and after that I found Jason… he was an orphan living in the streets, in Crime Alley… I took him in, adopted him and made him Robin, Dick didn't take it well when he found out…” 

“Uh, in my dimension Tim was the one who was living on the streets before you took him in, weird” Terry interrupted for a moment, making Bruce actually pause at that. Tim living in the streets? That was… certainly quite a difference between their worlds. “But what does that have to do with you emotionally shutting off?” 

“I'm getting there” Bruce insisted, closing his eyes for a moment “It’s… it's hard for me to talk about it, and most in the family already know, so I haven't had to explain it in a while…” 

Had he ever actually explained it to anyone before? He hadn't liked to bring it up, he usually left it at having lost someone, or lost a son if people insisted. Tim already knew when he became Robin, it felt like the rest of the family usually filled each other in on things by the time more people joined after that… perhaps he had never actually tried to explain it to anyone before. But he had started, he had to finish now. 

“Jason was a good Robin, a bit more impulsive and rash than Dick, which made me bench him at one point. I was… I was trying to make him calm down, I suppose. But then he found out his real mother was still alive and in Ethiopia and went to try to find her, I helped him, but the Joker was around and he… he got to him, he beat Jason with a crowbar and left him to die in an exploding warehouse” he quickly explained, knowing if he didn't say it all at once he wouldn't be able to get it out “When I got there… he was already gone…” 

“He was… he was dead? He died? But he just…” he confusedly pointed at the caves vehicle entrance “Wasn’t the one who brought me here Jason?” 

“He came back. Honestly we still don't know exactly how, at one point he was put in a Lazarus pit and the pits madness affected him for a long time… we fought a lot, he was angry at me… there was a lot of bad blood between him and the rest of the family...” he sighed “When the pits influence began to fade we started connecting again… it’s taken a long time, but we are ok now, as you saw” 

He was so glad they were finally managing to get along well again. He had finally taken the monument with Jason's suit down after they had a long talk about it. Jason argued that they didn’t need it anymore, since he was alive now. And had also remarked that the monuments true purpose was just to torture Bruce, and he wouldn’t allow that to stand anymore now that he was on good terms with him again. Bruce hadn’t been able to refute him, so he had taken it down shortly after. To be honest it was strange for him not to see it there everytime he headed out, that grim reminder he had set for himself… he had grown attached to it in a weird way he supposed, he had spent years touching that crystal container whenever his sadness compelled him to that ragged suit. 

It had always been hard for Bruce to let go of even the most devastating objects, like how it had taken him years to get rid of the gun that killed his parents, when he put it in the foundations of the Wayne building. But he would let go of anything he had to if his son asked it of him, it was worth it just to have Jason back. He was even moving back into the manor, and finally coming officially back from the dead, something Bruce had scarcely dreamt of happening. 

“Wow ok… thats… a lot…” Terry mumbled, staying silent for a bit. Bruce couldn't blame him for taking a moment to take all that in, after all he was still trying to take in all of Terry’s world information “So, I guess the emotionally shutting off thing for you was that, uh?” 

“Yes. I got more… brutal, and did not care what happened to me anymore… I would have ended up killing someone, or myself, if it hadn't been for Tim walking in and insisting I needed a Robin” he laughed a bit at the memory “He was very… insistent. Both Dick and Alfred agreed I needed someone else there too, so in the end I had to accept. Things gradually got better… and gradually this family of mine go bigger, as you saw. I had some difficulties balancing it all… I am trying to do better now. Leaning more towards my father side than Batman when dealing with the kids…” 

“Uh… it’s… nice, old man, it seems to do you well” Terry offered, clearly a bit surprised by it. 

“Thanks…” he nodded, deciding it was time for him to get more information about the other dimension “So, in your world, Tim was on the street before I took him in, that's also strange… but you didn't tell me what happened between my other self and him...?” 

“Oof, you're a glutton for punishment aren't you? You really wanna know?” he cringed, clearly a bit uncomfortable with that question. Could it be that bad? What could be worse than what he himself had suffered through with Jasons loss? He just nodded hoping his resolve to know was clear, making Terry sigh “Fine. So after you took him in you made him Robin, obviously. Sometime later he got captured by the Joker and Harley, they kidnapped him and had him for like... three weeks, I think. They were torturing him to try to… try to make him like them. They got close, apparently. By the time you and Batgirl found them he was dressed like a mini Joker and everything. There was a fight, and in the end Tim shot and killed the Joker. After that he stopped being Robin and seemed to hate you, but… it was even more complicated than that…” 

“How... could it possibly be worse?” Bruce managed to ask, shocked by all that information. 

“Well…” he groaned, apparently really hating having to tell all this “The Joker actually put this high tech chip with his DNA on Tim, so he would turn into him? And he sorta... started to take over him?” 

“...that is worse” he concluded. 

“Yeah… he came back full force to try to destroy Gotham and all that, he got into the cave and he almost… he almost killed you... I found you with one of those creepy Joker smiles... I managed to stop him in the end, but it was pretty close” Bruce was silent for a long while, which seemed to make Terry nervous as he tried to reassure him “Hey Bruce, don't beat yourself up over it, it wasn't our fault. I mean how could you have possibly known the Joker would do that? He seemed pretty unpredictable. And besides this happened to other dimension you, not you yourself” 

“It's not just that” Bruce interrupted him, “It's just... it seems no matter the circumstances or dimensions... my children are bound to suffer because of me… ” 

He somehow had expected the fact that even in this different dimension his children would have suffered, after all they did on his own already, but to that extent.... He knew it wasn't logical, but he couldn't help but blame himself for every single disgrace that would befall them. 

It probably didn't help how many times his villains went after them just to get to Batman. Even early on, just on Dicks first year as Robin, Harvey decided to beat him up half to death in front of Batman, seemingly just to make him angry or teach him some kind of lesson about his new way of seeing justice. 

Jason had been killed by the Joker just because he was important to him and the Joker knew it would hurt him… and even after all this time, even after being forgiven by Jason himself for not saving him, Bruce still couldn't help but think it was all his fault, and he had spiralled very hard in self blame back at the time. And Tim, who had come into the vigilante life just to help him get out of his grief... he had lost both his parents after becoming Robin, his father was killed just because he was a relative of a superhero. Damian's entire existence had been a struggle just because he was the son of the Bat up to the moment he had been left on Bruce's doorstep, and Bruce certainly didn't handle his death much better than Jasons. 

Even if this other dimensions Dick and Tim were not his own, to know that they had suffered like that… it hurt. To get shot by bullets deflected by his father's cape and be left practically abandoned at a hospital? To be tortured by the Joker for three weeks to be turned into him? He couldn't even imagine how traumatizing that must have been. And he couldn't help but think that it must be his fault, had they not associated with their dimensions Bruce none of those things would have happened to them. 

“It's not your fault though!” Terry suddenly said, apparently guessing Bruce's line of thought. His Bruce must have similar moments of guilty self absorption if he could tell that fast “You are not responsible for whatever crazy people decide to do! Bad things happen whether you are involved or not, it’s not like you are a bad luck charm or something. I wish I could have told my Bruce to stop blaming himself for everything earlier in his life, because now he is just all on his own and thinks he deserves it or something, and he doesn't! He is actually a great man, behind all the grouchiness. So you really need to ease up on yourself, didn’t you just say you were working on that kind thing uh?” he said a bit challengingly. 

“...you are right” Bruce smiled slightly. Terry certainly had a good heart, he had been able to see that an old and bitter version of himself had just let all the self blame get to him to the point of cutting everyone out, and had decided to try to reach him. “Although you are also wrong” Terry seemed to want to protest to that but before he could Bruce continued “My other shelve isn’t completely alone now, he has you. You are a great kid... I'm glad you stuck by him… it must not have been easy” 

“Oh, ah… well, it was worth it” he mumbled, blushing slightly. Apparently his other shelf also did not give many compliments either. “Even if the old man is hard to get along with sometimes, he… he believes in me. I didn't think anyone actually would believe I could do good like that…” he scoffed, making Bruce arc an eyebrow questioningly. “... I didn't take my parents divorce very well, I lashed out and I did a lot of bad stuff, I got put in juvie… and after that I felt like everyone judged me, you know? But Wayne… he never let that stand in the way. And now I get to be Batman! I get to help people, and to look cool doing it” he laughed a bit, gesturing his costume with obvious pride “All and all, meeting your other shelf was probably one of the best things that could have happened to me” 

Somehow Bruce wasn't surprised Terry had some difficulties in his past, after all it seemed everyone in this family did. He could see that Terry took his job as Batman as some kind of redemption, both guilt at having done wrong in the past and the need to do good driving him. Still, a kid with a delinquent past but a good heart that had stolen the suit… his other self had never met Jason, but he could just picture this older version of himself reacting the same way to that as he had to finding a little street urchin stealing the batmobiles tires. “You and Jason would get along” Bruce commented when he had that thought, laughing softly. 

“You think so? Uh” he was thoughtful for a moment, probably going over his earlier interactions with Jason “Maybe, he seemed pretty chill in handling you, and I appreciate that” he snickered. 

“All of you kids seem to appreciate that” Bruce sighed. It wasn't that he didn’t enjoy the good natured ribbing he got from Jason from time to time, but the way all his kids seemed to band with him just to make fun of him sometimes was a bit much. 

“Did you just… casually refer to me as one of your kids right now?” Terry asked, which made Bruce realize he had just instinctively included him into that statement. 

“Ah. Force of habit, I suppose… sorry” he mumbled, a bit embarrassed. He had just met him for crying out loud, even if he mentally had sorta accepted him into the family in just one conversation he couldn't just say that out loud. His other kids were not going to let him live this down when they realized how quickly he had mentally adopted him, they definitely were going to say he had some kind of problem. 

“No, no, it's nice I guess, its just… its weird for me to imagine you as a dad” he laughed “I didn't even trust you with a fake egg baby I had to take care of for class once” 

“...what?” 

“It was a weird day, don’t worry about it” Terry said, making a dismissive movement with his hand “Somehow I passed that class too, I don’t even know how I managed that when I had to carry the egg around while doing Batman things” 

Bruce was about to ask what the hell had Terry done while carrying some kind of egg baby around, but just then the machines beeped to indicate they had finished doing a preliminary analysis of Terry's blood. Bruce looked it over and had to reread one of the discoveries the machine had made a couple of times before it fully registered “Ah. Well. That's… interesting” 

“What, what is it? Do I get to go home now?” 

“No, that isn't done yet, it's just… your blood” 

“What? Do I got some weird dimensional sift disease or something?” he asked with worry. 

“No. Its… Terry, according to this apparently I’m your biological father” Bruce explained, still a bit shocked. Terry was surprised as well, taking a couple of seconds to react. 

“...what? No, you are not. It can't be” he finally replied, going from shock to denial “You didn't even meet my mom until you came to hire me! You can't be my dad!” 

“I am, biologically. If I didn't meet your mother before tough… then this might be some kind of… biological experiment, I suppose. You do come from the future, and even now such things are possible…” he mumbled, as his detective's mind started trying to solve such an occurrence, after he learnt of Damian’s existence the possibility of biological experiments involving him in some way didn’t sound too outlandish. 

“...me and my brother have black hair” Terry softly said, taking Bruce out of his contemplation. When he noticed he had Bruce's attention he continued “My parents are both redheads. But me and my brother have black hair. When… when my parents divorced, I… I thought maybe that had something to do with it for a second… I always wondered...” 

“...I see. You should look into who could set up some kind of biological experiment when you get back to your dimension…” he quickly went by his list of possible culprits. “Say, does your dimension have an organization called Project Cadmus by any chance? They made a clone of Superman here, amongst many other things” why would Cadmus want a clone of Batman was anyone's guess, he could understand them trying to make one of Superman with all his powers, but cloning him? That would only give them a regular human. 

“Project Cadmus? Yeah, they were a huge deal back in my Bruce's time in the justice league…” Terry answered, frowning “Now that you mention it I think they made a Supergirl clone once… you think they had something to do with this?” 

“If they are anything like the one in this dimension, and by your description they seem like it, then I wouldn't put it past them to try to make some kind of clone of me…” he sighed “I’m sorry you had to find out this way, though I can't imagine there is any good way to find out about this…” 

“Yeah… yeah this was going to be a shock either way” he groaned, rubbing his temples. “Wait, do you… do you think he knows? The Wayne from my dimension?” 

“Has he have had to patch you up before?” he asked, to which Terry nodded “Then he probably does” 

“But… why wouldn't he tell me then?” 

“Well…” he was toguthfull for a moment. If this other version of him was anything like himself then… “I think he probably didn't tell you out of respect for your father” 

“Uh?” 

“Your father, the man who raised you. He probably didn't want you to think he was trying to take his place for you…” he explained “With Dick I had a similar reaction, I didn't adopt him at first because I didn't want to overstep, since he loved his parents…” 

“Oh… I see” he mumbled. “I’m sorry, this... this is a lot to process…” 

“I know. It's fine, Terry…” he reassured him, glancing back at the computers scanner results “At least you will have a while to think about all this, since I think it's going to take at least… a week for your travel back to be ready” 

“What? A WEEK?? What the hell am I supposed to do for an entire week?” he protested. 

“You could stay here, in the manor. And get to know your family in this dimension, because they ARE going to be curious and not leave you alone for all that time, if we are being honest” he shrugged a bit apologetically. 

“Well I… I guess I can stay here, how many people are in this manor?” Terry asked, clearly concerned he was going to be swarmed by the other five children he had. 

“Currently besides me? Obviously Alfred, Damian, and Jason is working on moving back in, but he hasn't yet so that’s it” 

“Okay. I can handle that, I think. Just… leave me a bit of time alone for now to process all this?” 

“Of course” he put a hand on his shoulders reassuringly “Other time and dimension or not, I am your father, if you… if you wish me to be. I… I’d like for you to feel welcome here, for the time you are staying” he said, hoping he wasn’t being too forward. He had just met him, but… he couldn't deny he already liked him, and Terry already was close to a Bruce Wayne even if it wasn't himself. Even without the blood connection he had just discovered, he just couldn't deny the instant feeling of familiarity he got from him. 

Terry smiled a bit, and actually rested his hand on Bruces with a deep sigh. “...okay Bruce, okay… I will try to take all this in, then maybe we could… talk about that…” 

* * *

After all that information Wayne had dumped on him Terry was feeling overwhelmed, so he was very glad Wayne silently asked him to follow him. He took Terry upstairs and to one of the rooms where they apparently kept old clothing that didn’t get much use anymore, and told him to get anything he wanted since he had come with just his Batsuit on. 

While he looked around for clothes that fit him he still couldn’t believe what he had just learned. Bruce Wayne was his father, Bruce slagging Wayne! And the old man probably knew after the first time he had to cure his wounds, and never told him. Out of respect for the man that raised him, according to this universes Wayne…. 

It was just a lot. He respected Bruce Wayne, a lot, and he thought he was a good man despite all his faults. And in this dimension apparently he was a father five times over, which was weird. Yet oddly fitting… he had felt very happy when he had ruffled his hair, if he was honest. 

He could probably use the week in this universe to process all of that. But for now, he had to get out of the room now that he had finally dressed himself. When he finally emerged back out he was wearing some denim pants, a black shirt and an old leather jacket Wayne seemed to instantly recognize. 

“Oh, I haven't seen that leather jacket in a while” he laughed, making Terry frown and look at the jacket again with more interest. 

“What? It's yours?” he asked, trying to imagine Wayne in a black leather jacket. Somehow it was easier than he thought. 

“Yeah, actually I think I came back to Gotham in it” he nodded more sure now that he could see it up close. 

“I thought for sure it must have been from Jason or something, you telling me you actually started this leather jackets thing?” he smiled as he put his hands on the jacket’s pockets. 

“I suppose so, is it really a thing…?” he frowned “I mean sure I like them, Dick and Tim wear leather jackets when they are on motorcycles I suppose... and Jason incorporated his into his costume, and wears a lot of them out but… is it a thing?” 

“I wear leather jackets too, old man” he laughed, realizing this was apparently a family trait “It’s definitely a thing, you have somehow passed this on” 

“Hnn” he grunted, apparently not sure what to do with that information. 

“Oh a grunt, I’ve missed those” Terry snickered. “By the way, I’ve been meaning to ask… you said Damian was your biological son as well, right?” 

“Yes, he is” 

“So… who’s the mother? Was is Selina? Are you actually together in this dimension?” he asked clearly excited by the prospect. 

“No… why would you think that?” Wayne asked back, slightly dazzled by the question. 

“Aww man, I thought for sure you would have been more willing to get together with her in this dimension, with how clearly in love with her you still were in mine” he tsked, snapping his fingers in disappointment. 

“Your Bruce is still in love with her after all those years…?” he couldn't help a slight smile at that, apparently quite content imagining himself at eighty and still hopelessly in love with Selina. How... sentimental of him. This was still so weird. 

“Well… yeah, kinda… I think?” he scratched his head. He had heard some rumours that back in the day Batman and Wonderwoman were a thing, but Wayne had only spoken to him about one woman, and the way he had spoken about her… “I fell in love with one of my villains and the old man told me about him and Selina… he clearly still has feelings for her, I don't know why he doesn't act on them, it’s not like she's still stealing things or anything as far as I know” he shrugged “By that smile you have you also like her, so what gives? How come you aren’t with her…?” 

“It’s… complicated. I actually proposed, we were going to get married… but she left me at the altar” he confessed, actually getting a gasp from Terry. 

“You ACTUALLY almost got married? And she’s the one that left you at the altar?? Oh my god, I can’t believe that almost happened…. Oh, but you didn't answer the question, if its not Selina then whos Damian's mother?” 

“Talia al Ghul” he replied, which was an even bigger shock from Terry. 

“Talia?! Oh wow, ok thats… wow” he mumbled, running a hand through his hair to calm down. The daughter of Ra’s al Ghul… still alive and not taken over by her father, he had to assume. Well, Wayne did seem to like her too… 

“You met her?” Wayne asked, surprised by such an extreme reaction. 

“...yes and no?” he answered, but before he could elaborate on that Terry got distracted when he saw someone approaching them. “Oh my god, I thought you were exaggerating a bit when you said you actually had a british butler, I can't believe my eyes” 

“Sir, may I ask who is this young man?” Alfred asked, looking at Wayne with clear judgement while Terry kept staring at him in awe. 

“Alfred, this is Terry McGiniss… he is one of my protegees from a different time and dimension” he explained “Terry, this is Alfred… though I guess you already guessed that” 

“Well obviously, who else could it be when he looks like a caricature of what a british butler would look like” Terry laughed, taking Alfred's hand and shaking it enthusiastically “Its an honour to meet you, I’ve heard much about you” 

“I see… and why is someone from another dimension here, if I may ask?” 

“He seems to be stuck in this dimension for now, until we can get him back to where he belongs he will be staying here. He will be staying here for at least a week” 

“Should I prepare a guest room then? And some dinner?” 

“Oh man, yeah food sounds slagging great about now! I'm starving, all this dimensional traveling must have drained me out” 

“Right… well, follow me young man, I will get you something to eat and somewhere to sleep”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> DCAU Bruce sure had a very hard fallout with his two kids, didn't he?  
> That thing about the gun being the Wayne foundation building? Thats from Batman year two, cause that story might be pretty meh but I liked that one thing a lot so I'm keeping it  
> Btw Alfred is only in this scene in this whole fic because I can't write that man to save my life, I'm sorry


	3. Chapter 3

Damian should have expected that his father would eventually bring home some stray young man to join their family. He knew of his track record after all, he knew this was quite a common occurrence for him. He thought he'd at least wait till he was out of the house before it happened again.

When his father told him this Terry McGinnis who was from another time and dimension was one of his protegees, honestly he hadn't been that surprised. However he hadn't expected this new addition to be related to his father by blood as well. 

Damian had prided himself in the fact that he was related to his father by blood when he had first entered into his father's life, unlike his other family members. He now knew that his blood relation didn't instantly give him more importance than the rest of them, but deep down... he couldn't help but cling to that fact to reassure himself of his place in his father's side. To meet someone else with that connection… he hadn't known what to expect when he actually met him. He found McGinnis actually petting his dog Titus with a big smile on his face. He certainly looked similar to father with black hair and blue eyes, although that could have been said of any of his fathers adopted sons. There was more tough, his face had some similar features that he had seen in both himself and father… some sharpness he couldn't pinpoint but recognized when looking at him. 

“You are a good batdog aren't you?” McGinnis was mumbling to the great dane, as the dog quietly swayed his tail and let himself be pet “Yes, yes you are. Much less grouchy than Ace, yes, you are such a good boy, good batdog” 

“His name is Titus, not batdog” Damian protested, making the older boy jump a bit in surprise as he turned to look at him. He looked intently at Damian, no doubt performing the same kind of inspection on him as he had on the older boy just a moment before. 

“Oh, ah… you must be Damian, right? I’m Terry” he said, extending a hand which Damian prontly ignored. 

“I know who you are McGinnis, father told me” he informed him. 

“Oh” he let his hand drop and returned it to petting the dog “So… this is your dog?” 

“Yes, and his name is Titus” 

“That's a bit of a weird name, but ok” he laughed a bit “Did Bruce get him for you?” 

“Yes… why do you ask?” he frowned. 

“I guess he must really like Great Danes, uh? Back in my dimension, my Bruce has a dog called Ace and it's a Great Dane too. He's a mix tough, I think this one is a purebred, right?” 

“Yes…” he answered distractedly, a bit thoughtful at that. Did his father truly like Great Danes...? That was honestly a thought that had never crossed his mind before. But if it was something that happened in more than one dimension maybe it was. 

“This one is a very nice dog, he's letting me pet him right away. Ace was as grouchy as his owner and didn’t like me at first” McGinnis continued talking, still petting the dog distractedly. 

“Titus is a great dog. But stop trying to distract me from you by talking about animals!” Damian complained, trying to shake the distracting thoughts to focus on the newcomer again. 

“I’m… sorry? Did you need something from me?” the older boy asked, confused by the sudden outburst. 

“Father said that you are his blood son too” 

“Uh... I guess?” he scratched the back of his neck “I just found out from this blood analysis Bruce did, its kinda new information still” 

“Then fight me” he immediately demanded. 

“What? Dude you are a like, ten” McGinnis protested, making Damian cross his arms with a huff. 

“-tt- I am not, but are you underestimating me because of my age? That is a common mistake, a mistake I wouldn't have expected from someone who dares take the Batman name” 

“Look kid, I don't want to hurt you or something” he continued to argue. Why was it that no one took him seriously when he demanded a fight? 

“You will not harm me, I assure you. I suspect I will harm you” he couldn't help a smug smile at that. 

“Why are you so insistent on this?” the older boy sighed as he got up, looking at Damian with a tilt of his head. 

“I want to fight you to see how good you are. You are Batman in your dimension, are you not?” 

“Well, yes I am, but what does that have to do with us fighting?” 

“It has everything to do with it” he responded, but did not add more. Damian was going to be Batman in the future, even if this McGinnis somehow exists in their dimension, the mantle was his. Since he didn't seem to exist in McGinnis dimension he could understand that it had somehow gone to this new protegee of his father. But he needed to know this McGinnis was worthy of it, and so, he would fight him. 

“Is this really necessary kid? Seriously, you are so small, I don't want to fight you and get you hurt” the older boy protested, somehow still not grasping that he was serious about his fighting challenge, so he decided to ignore his protests and just proceed. 

“Let's go to the cave, we shall have plenty of room there” he started walking, stopping at the top of the stairs when he noticed he wasn't being followed and looking at the other boy expectantly “Come on you dimensional stray, we don't have time to waste” 

“I… fine, I guess you won't take no for an answer” he sighed, finally following him. Damian smiled to himself, happy he was finally being obeyed. He could tell the older boy was looking at him as they walked down the stairs for a while before he started talking again “So, uh… Bruce said your mother is Talia?” 

“That is correct” he answered, looking at him curiously. That was a fair question to ask he supposed, but McGinnis was looking at him with even more wariness after hearing his answer. “Father said your dimension is in the future for us, but given my family's… special circumstances, you may have met her… or my grandfather. Is that why you are acting so strange?” 

“....uuuuuuuh…” McGiniss mumbled, looking at the sides clearly uncomfortable and avoiding the question. Damian frowned. 

“...what is it? Did my mother or grandfather do something to you or father in your dimension?” 

“Uh, yeah I guess?” McGinnis half answered. 

“So? Was it my mother or grandfather?” he asked impatiently. 

“....uuuuh…” Damian growled at the stalling, making McGinnis put his hands up in surrender “Ok, ok, look it was very weird, you really want to know?” 

“After this incessant stream of unclear answers, yes, I do” he huffed, crossing his arms. 

“Ok, well… so for Wayne's eightieth birthday Talia came and offered him to go in to the Lazarus pit to make him young again… at first the old man refused, but in the end he agreed. He actually got in and got younger for a bit, though he had grey side hairs” he explained. 

“Somehow I don't feel father would actually accept such an offer…” Damian protested, trying to imagine his father actually going into a Lazarus pit voluntarily and failing to do so. 

“He was feeling the weight of his age a bit too hard, I think… but well he regretted it almost immediately. Said the youth wasn't real, and decided he didn't actually want to go through with the whole process and make it permanent” 

“Now that sounds more like him” he let out a short laugh at that. 

“Yes, it does doesn't it?” McGinnis snickered a bit as well “But see, the thing is… turns out that Talia? She was actually Ra’s who had put his mind into her body to lure Bruce there to take over his body once he made him young?” 

“...that… that is not quite what I expected” Damian mumbled, a bit shocked at that. His grandfather has had very weird schemes, but he wouldn't usually do anything that would hurt his mother like taking over her body like that. And all that just as a stepping stone to get to his father, apparently. 

“Yeaaaah, see why I was a bit weirded out?” McGinnis said “You know what's even weirder? She… he… whatever, actually kissed Bruce? Like... blerg” 

“Let's agree to not talk about that ever again” Damian quickly cut him before he elaborated anymore. 

“Yeah ok, let's just pretend we didn't just have this talk” the older boy nodded in complete agreement, apparently finding the topic as weird as he did. As they finally descended to the batcave he was looking at the training mats with curiosity. 

“Now… take off that jacket and let's fight” Damian asked, McGinnis sighed but complied and took off the leather jacket he was wearing and carefully laid it aside. 

“You are really sure about this? If you get hurt and the old Wayne gets mad at me I'm going to fully try to blame you” he warned, to which Damian just smirked. 

“It's more than likely that you are the one that will get hurt” he replied. 

Of course, he was correct. The fight didn't last long. McGinnis was clearly hesitant at first, probably still not wanting to fight what he perceived as just a child, and Damian easily took advantage of that to take him down and pin him to the floor. Honestly it was a bit too easy. 

“Ouch, what the slag?” the older boy whined on the floor as he tried to get up, but Damian didn't let him, hitting him against the floor again. 

“Your training is lacking. How could my father let you become Batman in this condition?” he asked, furious at the alternate version of his father for his low standards. How could someone he could so easily defeat be Batman? 

“Look, there was no one else” McGinnis responded a bit angrily, still trying to get himself free unsuccessfully “And also he's like a really old man! He trains me using simulations and such, he can't actually fight long or his heart would act up” 

“-tt- You are still sorely lacking. In the time you are here I shall devote some of my time to training you so you will not dishonor the Batman mantle” Damian decided, as his prisoner let his head hit the floor when he finally stopped struggling against his hold. 

“Ugh, why are you so weird about this?” McGinnis complained. 

“I am not, you need better training and we can provide it while you are here, so you will take it” he replied, which somehow got the dimensional traveler to shut up for a bit. 

“I am a good Batman, you know?” he mumbled with a slight growl, perhaps a bit offended. Damian could understand that reaction, someone doubting one's abilities was always infuriating, as he very well knew. But that didn’t give him a pass for his terrible skill level. 

“You rely too much on that suit of yours is what it looks like. Batman can rely on gadgets on occasion, yes, but a lot of it is pure martial arts. -tt- The alternate version of my father must be trying the best he can considering his age and condition. And my father may be lenient on you while you are here, due to having just found out you are also his blood and the temporary status of your stay, but I will not. You need to be better” 

That explanation seemed to actually make McGinnis take pause, probably to take it all in. “...wait, is this a weird form of concern from you?” he finally asked, actually looking at Damian with curiosity this time. Damian grunted and finally let him free. 

“I don't know what you are talking about. Now get up, and fight me again McGinnis” he said as he got back into fighting position. 

McGinnis got up with a small smile that Damian wanted to wipe from his face immediately. At least he took the fight more seriously this time, not trying to actually avoid hurting him like the first one. But his technique was so poor Damian kicked him to the floor again without too much difficulty. 

Damian sighed dramatically as he shook his head while he let McGinnis out of his hold. “This is going to take a long while… little brother” he declared with a smug smile. 

“What? I'm older than you squirt!” said the other boy as he sat up on the floor, looking at him with indignation. 

“No you are not, you are from the future, correct? Therefore you were born after I was, and are technically my little brother. Right?” Damian explained. 

“I… technically I guess so?” McGinnis replied, frowning a bit realising how he couldn't argue with that logic. 

“I have always wondered how it would feel like to finally be the older brother to someone. Now I see why the others seem to enjoy teasing me with the title so much” Damian said, laughing a bit. 

“Ugh, is this what my brother feel like when I get like that?” McGinnis sighed, letting himself fall to the floor defeatedly. 

“Wait, you have a younger brother?” Damian asked, unable to hide that he was quite interested in that information. 

“Oh, yeah. His name is Matt” he quickly replied “He's eight” 

“... do you think he may be also… my father's son?” 

“Well… he does have black hair and blue eyes, so… maybe?” McGinnis answered after thinking about it for a couple of seconds. “When I get back I will have to look into that...” 

Damian was quiet for a moment. Another one. There was possibly another child with his father's blood in this other dimension. McGinnis was enough as it was, but there was another. How did this even happen,he taught McGinnis was some kind of clone experiment but there was a second one? He knew he shouldn't feel so anxious about it, but the mere thought of more people being his father's blood… 

Damian got taken out of his thoughts by McGinnis, who was getting closer carefully with clear concern. “Hey kid what's the matter? You’ve gotten very quiet all of a sudden…” 

“It's just… I thought I was my father's only blood son. That there's more is… strange for me” he sincerely answered. 

“Well, it seems to me even without me and my brothers existence you weren't really an only child anyhow? Didn't Bruce actually adopt all his kids in this dimension?” 

“Well, yes, but… wait, did he not in yours?” he replied, noting McGinnis distinction between their dimensions in that question. 

“Dick and Tim were his Robins, but he never actually adopted them…” he shook his head “So well… now he has no family at all in my dimension, technically. Since I didn't even know I was his family till yesterday” 

“...that sounds… lonely…” Damian muttered, feeling somewhat sad for this other version of his father. He didn’t think his father needed anyone else besides him when he first came in, which was why he hadn't understood why he should even allow all these other people around. He didn't like all his adoptive siblings at first, he could probably argue he still didn't like Drake, but over time he grew begrudgingly fond of most of them. And over time he also understood that they clearly made his father happy, and he couldn't deny that even when he was at his worst. To imagine a version of his father without anyone there… 

“Yeah… it is lonely…” McGinnis sighed. “You know, I'm actually very happy for the Bruce of this dimension, that he actually took the step and took them in? It seems it's really does wonders for him, having all these kids around” he laughed a bit “He actually seemed to accept me right away too, I think you guys broke him in to accept any child in without much fuss” 

“Perhaps father is not that bothered to have another child, it isn't even the first time a biological one has been thrown at him” Damian conceded with a nod. Honestly a weird dimensional stray probably couldn't compare in father’s mind to the way Damian himself was kinda thrown into his life. “But believe me... our brothers will make, as you say, a fuss” 

“Are they all going to be as demanding as you with me?” the older boy frowned. 

“You speak as if you had anything more pressing to do” he scoffed “As far as I know you are just planning to wait out this week by lazily hanging around this manor” 

“Well uh… I guess I didn't really have any plans technically, but still…” 

“Then shut up and fight me again, perhaps this time you will manage to actually get a solid hit in” 

“You are such a little shit” he grumpily mumbled, but got into position again. 

After a couple more rounds McGinnis still hadn’t managed any win, although he did get a couple of hits in. His fighting was… rough, and unrefined. It reminded Damian a bit of Todd’s fighting in its more basic form, but Todd had trained extensively both with father and all those experts mother had sent him to, so he had gotten much better over time even if you could still somewhat see his roots in the way he fought. McGinnis on the other hand… he fought like a street thug who had been taught a couple of good tricks. 

“-tt- I can't believe you are Batman with such poor skills” he remarked when he got the older boy into the ground again. 

“Are all of you this hardcore about martial arts in this dimension? Jeeze” the boy grumbled, getting up again. Damian would at least give him that he was as stubborn as anyone else in the family, because he kept getting up and ready for another round. 

“It’s basic. Father knows practically every martial art in existence, its logical that we all are experts. Although Cain might be the most skilled among us, if she fought you you'd lose even more pathetically” 

“Cain?” McGinnis asked, apparently confused as to who he was referring to. 

“Cassandra Cain, father told me he gave you an overview of our family did he not? He must have told you about her...” 

“Oh, yeah, its just you confused me by calling he by surname” he nodded with satisfaction, but then frowned at a sudden realization “Now that I say that, you've been calling me by my surname this whole time too” 

“...it's just something I do, McGinnis” he answered, not really wanting to explain further. Its not like explaining that he called everyone by surname when he first came in in a childish way to remark they were not really family was really something he was proud of anymore. 

“That's kinda weird, why would you do that?”the older boy frowned, but when he realized he wasn't going to get a response he sighed “Anyway, Cassandra right? What's the story there? She didn't exist in my dimension either” 

“What's the story of any of this absurd number of strays my father takes in? She was in a bad situation, and father took her in” 

“I'd like more detail than that and you know it” 

“It is not my story to tell. But know that she believes in what Batman represents more than any other among us… perhaps when she finds you became Batman in the future with such poor skills she will try to train you even harder than me” he smirked at the tought “You should be fearful McGiniss, she can beat father in a fight” 

“What? She's that good?” McGinnis blinked in surprise. 

“She can read body language, although she has difficulty with spoken speech… she will probably come by just to meet you, this family is nothing else if not curious” he sighed. “Grayson will probably come soon to meet you and be overly nice as he always is, Todd is recently trying to move back in again so you are bound to meet him again, and Drake will come by eventually too, I'm sure of it, he's probably as curious about you as the rest” 

“You know… you talk all high and superior, but it sounds to me like you actually like all your brothers and your sister” McGinnis laughed a bit “In that ‘these people are insufferable idiots, but they are my insufferable idiots’ kind of way” 

He huffed, deciding not to answer to that statement. “You also sounds very eager to actually meet everyone despite your clear doubts and fear” he remarked, trying to distract him from that observation. 

McGinnis scratched the back of his head, glancing down. “It's just… you all seem so amazing... all with amazing skills, and this terrible pasts…. And I’m… I’m just a son of a divorced middle class couple from the future who stole a suit. I feel so… unqualified” he admitted. 

“Father did mention you stole it at first, but didn't his other self give you his blessings to actually take the mantle?” 

“W-well, yeah, he did… he's even told me that I make him proud being Batman, that I'm a good Batman, but… coming here and seeing all these other kids of his who would make a much better Batman than I could just on skills alone I…” he sighed, apparently not knowing exactly how to articulate what he was trying to say “Not to mention it turns out I'm related to him by blood too and I don't even know what to do with this fact. I mean… you guys have known the old man for far longer than I have, and obviously you know the one of this dimension more than me since I just arrived here. It's just… I don't know, ugh…” he ran a hand through his hair in frustration. 

Damian frowned at the other boys clear doubts in himself. He could see that to someone with much less training than any of them, all the members of the family must seem a bit intimidating and much more qualified in comparison… and his skills were indeed poor, but that could be fixed. But to doubt his place as Batman just because everyone else in this dimension was better trained than him? He could not let that stand on someone who had his father's mantle. And his father's blood as well. 

“McGinnis, I am only going to say this once so you better pay attention” he dramatically announced “If father said you were a good Batman, then you are. No matter how much I or any of our siblings may belittle your actual skills, or if you think somehow because your past wasn’t as tragic as the others here gives you less rights to be in this family. None of that really matters. If father said you were a good Batman… then that means you actually have what it takes to be Batman, the necessary spirit if you will. And that is harder than obtain than any skills could ever be. And if he accepted you like that, you are part of the family… blood relation or not” 

He took a deep breath as he finished his speech, kinda proud he had managed to say it all. McGinnis seemed to be in shock to have heard all that praise coming from him, he supposed he couldn't really blame him. When he finally seemed to recover he smiled, a bit embarrassed. 

“...wow, thanks Damian that… that means a lot from you” he got close and actually ruffled Damian's hair, earning him a glare “I bet you are like our dad and don't say nice things like that often, so that must have taken a lot out of you” 

“That's why I said I was only going to say it once. Now, rest over, time for another fight!” he demanded, earning another sigh as McGinnis got into position again despite his protests. 

* * *

Terry sighed as he rested in one of the chairs of the cave. He had gotten a shower after getting his ass kicked by his somehow both little and older brother, and had just gotten out. He couldn't believe he got his ass kicked so hard by a preteen child, or that he was going to have to suffer through this training sessions every day he was there since Damian had insisted on repeating them. He was going to have bruises all over later, he just knew it. 

He was just wallowing in his misery at the prospect of more of this hellish training sessions when he noticed the cow. He had to do a double take to make sure it wasn't exhaustion playing tricks on him, he was actually seeing a cow. 

There was a cow. In the batcave. What the slag. 

He got closer to the animal in complete awe. Why was a cow here? How the slag had a cow gotten into the batcave? Did Wayne know there was a cow there? He had to know, right? It couldn't possibly have gotten in by accident. 

“Terry? Damian said you were still down here after your training session” said the familiar voice of Wayne coming down the stairs, making Terry look his way. 

“Uh yeah Wayne, I'm here. Say uh... are you aware there's a cow here?” he asked, still in disbelief and kinda expecting Wayne to tell him he was imagining the animal before him. 

When he got there though he just sorta half smiled, petting the cow distractedly. “Ah. I see you've met Batcow” 

“Batcow? BATCOW?” he said, completely baffled. Was this dimension even real? “What the hell old man, why did no one tell me you had a cow? Named batcow?? What is this dimension that keeps on giving...” 

“She's Damians, technically. He has a whole menagerie” Wayne explained, as if that made it any less incredible. “He also has a cat named Alfred and a dragon bat named Goliath” 

“This kid of yours is softer than he lets on, uh? You must feel proud in a way, even if he takes in animals instead of orphans” he snickered a bit. Damian wasn’t too bad, once you got under the grouchy exterior. He was kinda like his father that way. 

“Very funny…” Wayne arched an eyebrow at his remark, but seemed to easily relax again “But I do feel proud of him. He has come a long way since he first came home… I was a bit concerned he may have been too rough on you, but if you are making fun of him I see it all must have gone well” 

“Well he's relentless and kicked my ass, but yeah it was good, overall” he shrugged “He kept telling me that my skills are very poor and I need to get better, but I feel it's a weird kind of… form concern from him? Like he wants me to be better for my own good. He's a bit rough around the edges, but his heart is in a good place” 

Wayne smiled very fondly at that. “Yes. He is a good kid” 

Terry wondered if he should bring up many of the other things Damian had said. If he should bring up his little breakdown as his doubts about his inadequacy caught up to him… but he was still recovering from that. “He says he wants to train me everyday that I’m here…” he said instead. 

“Did he?” he arched an eyebrow “Thats interesting...” 

“Uh? Why? Should I feel honored he chose to spend his time with me or something?” 

“Well…” he paused, thoughtful for a second “Damian has a lot of responsibilities and other people he could be spending time with, it’s curious he choose to dedicate some time everyday just to train you” 

“Oh, I didn’t know he had friends” Terry laughed “He’s so hostile, I thought for sure he must have a hard time making them” 

“Well, one friend” the older man pointed out “Jon, the son of Superman” 

“He has a son here too?? Did this dimension just get a ton of kids in general as the main difference?” he complained. 

“I’m guessing he didn’t in yours then...” he deduced, frowning slightly. 

“No, he seemed a bit… aloof, when I met him” he shrugged a bit “Altought he got mind controlled by this weird starfish thing…? So I don’t know if that was it” 

“Why is it Starro seems to be in so many universes...” Wayne sighed. Apparently that starfish thing was a thing in this universe too, and had already happened, so that saved him the trouble of actually explaining it. 

“Speaking of kids, Damian mentioned all your other kids are probably gonna come and meet me? Think they will?” 

“Oh they absolutely are. They are all too curious not to” he nodded. 

“Well… I hope none of the others try to get me into more training sessions of hell, because one is more than enough, thanks” 

“I’m sure they will bond with you in a much less confrontational way, Terry” 

“You sure? Because they all sound very hardcore, I dont know…” 

“All of them have have hard times, yes, but they are all very good kids, really… including you” Wayne casually said, making Terry look at him surprised. 

“Me? You remember I told you I went to juvie and about how I stole the batsuit right?” he laughed nervously. He was an ex juvenile delinquent after all, not many people would say that about him. 

“I also remember you telling me how you feel so guilty about lashing out at your parents divorce that you feel being Batman makes you repay that debt back. And how you worked it out with my other self despite starting your vigilante career in such a fashion” he continued. 

“I don't know man, I think maybe your standards for good are a bit low, considering” this Wayne had children who had been trained as assassins, and another kid who tried to steal from him apparently, tough Terry wasn’t exactly sure how yet. Maybe he didn’t seem that bad in comparison. 

“You are a good kid, Terry” Wayne repeated. As if he was saying an absolute truth that couldn’t ever be disputed. How could he say that so sincerely...? 

“...y-yeah okay. Whatever you say” he mumbled, feeling a faint blush. What the slag was even going on with him in this dimension, it's not like this Bruce Wayne was even his actual dad, why did he feel so happy to hear him say that...?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Anyone else find it funny that Ace from the DCAU and Titus from the comics are both great Danes? I think Bruce likes those dogs XD  
> Also I love Terry but god he needs training compared to literally anyone else in this family, hes had like 3 years of being Batman at most? Everyone else could kick his ass instantly, so I dont think Damian would stand for that when it comes to someone who is Batman, so training from hell he gets


	4. Chapter 4

Dick just had to come to the Manor to see the new kid. Another biological child of Bruce from another dimension, and also from the future, and who was also Batman? He just HAD to come see.

He wasn’t sure where to look for him at first, but when he found him Terry was just slouching on the sofa of one of the entertainment rooms, looking at the tv with the look of someone who just had a very tiring exercise session. Dick knew that look too well. 

“So how long did Damian make you fight with him?” he asked, laughing a bit. 

“Like three hours, I’m beat” Terry distractedly answered without even looking up. Then he fully focused and jumped a bit in surprise at noticing there was actually someone else in the room “Oh, uh, you… you are Dick Grayson, right?” 

“The very same! Come on, move a bit and let me sit” he said, sitting on the sofa right next to him with a grin. “It’s nice to meet you” 

“You seem way too excited about this...” Terry commented, crossing his arms. 

“I mean how can I not be excited? I can't believe in some other dimension Bruce got another kid that's somehow both biological and adopted at the same time” he replied, making Terry frown. 

“I’m not adopted, I’m just Wayne's assistant” he remarked, a bit defensively. 

“So you say, but it sounds to me like you are another bat-kid. Extra points for being biologically his kid too” he pointed out, shruging “You seem pretty chill tough, that's surprising” 

“Did you expect me to be all broody like the old man?” Terry asked. Dick hummed, toughtfull. 

“Kinda, I mean you have meet Damian, he's also pretty intense” he admitted “And I heard you were Batman too, sooo….” 

He probably had been expecting someone a bit more… Bruceish? Not that Terry wasn’t a bit, just by looking at him. He could see some of Bruce’s facial features on him, and the same blue eyes. And when he got a bit defensive earlier he could see much more of a resemblance, but his attitude? Very different from Bruce, or Damian for that matter. Not as intense. And he would know, he had dealt with both of the biological Waynes the longest. 

“Fair enough, I guess…” Terry muttered, sighing and looking a bit confused “Hold on, how do you guys even know all this? You weren't here when I came in and explained all that” 

“You do know this family is full of detectives right? We are nosy” he laughed “We are all going to be curious as hell and have to look into this, and Damian actually talks to me. You told Bruce, he told Damian, Damian told me and I basically told everyone” he explained. 

Honestly the texts he had got from Damian explaining the new dimensionally displaced resident of the house had been a delight for Dick. Other dimensions usually didn’t bring anything good, so to have randomly gotten an extra bat family member none of them knew? It was exciting, who knew what tales he could have. 

“So not schway” Terry scoffed, making Dick tilt his head in confusion. 

“Uh?” he said out loud, assuming that maybe that was some weird future slang word. Realizing his mistake Terry grunted in frustration. 

“Uuuuh what’s that really old word for it uh…. Slammin’? Rad?” he said. Wow he had gone straight for the 90s there. 

“I think you went a bit too far back there” Dick laughed “I think you wanted to go for cool then. Wow your future dimension is weird” 

“Apparently so….” 

“So, how was I in the future?” he asked, unable to hold his curiosity about his other self anymore. 

“Uuuh, well…” Terry looked at him and made a weird face, apparently not very confident he would like what he had to say, but finally began to talk when he saw Dick didn’t back down. “As far as how the other you looked... you have an eyepatch, and the hair on your sides is going grey” 

“Wait, an eyepatch and grey hair? Seriously? You make me sound like Slade, do I look like Slade?” Dick asked after trying to imagine the look of his future self and only managing to think of him. 

“I don't know who that is” Terry answered a bit confused. 

“Deathstroke the terminator?” Dick clarified, hoping maybe the alias would ring a bell. 

“Still no idea” he shook his head, making Dick blink a couple of times trying to understand. 

Deathstroke was famous, even in the future he should be well known, even if just as a past glory. Or could it be... “Wait your dimension didn't have Deathstroke?” he finally deduced, a bit surprised “My other selves Titans days must have been much better then” he sighed in a bit of wonder. His life would have been so much easier if Deathstroke didn’t exist, he could only imagine. 

“I don't think we had a Titans either, whatever that is” Terry said, taking Dick out of his wishful thinking. Wait, no Titans? 

“That's… ok, how come your dimension is so close in some ways and so different in others?” he asked. He couldn't understand, how could a dimension not have the Titans AT ALL? It seemed like such a deeproothed institution for him, he couldn't imagine a world without them. How would not having the Titans affect his other self? That probably contributed to making him as bitter as Terry was saying he seemed. 

“I don't know, weird interdimensional stuff!” he threw his hands up in the air “We had some weird dimensional visitors in my dimension too a couple of times, like the Justice lords, those guys were like the justice league but dictators of their world or something? And they got that way because their Flash died, I think” 

“That's weird, different dimensions are weird” he agreed “Was I really that different…?” 

“You were way older obviously, and so bitter, like way more bitter than Wayne” Terry continued “Did Damian tell you what I told Bruce about future you and him?” 

“Not really, Bruce probably didn’t tell him, thats why I’m asking” he explained, getting a bit concerned with how uncomfortable Terry looked telling him all this. Was this other dimension really that bad for him and Bruce? 

“Ah well this is more awkward then…” he sighed “See… the other you… he really hated Wayne, and I mean really hate him. When him and Wayne were working together after a long time of Wayne being on his own some bullets bounced on his cape and hit the old you, and he clearly still blames him for it. Wayne didn’t go to the hospital to see the him, and apparently that was the last straw. He still keeps his bloodied and bullet holes riddled uniform...” Dick had to take a moment to take all that in, which Terry seemed to guess, since he was silent. 

Dick huffed, leaning back on the sofa. He frowned when Terry flinched a bit, like when he had first noticed him in the room. It was strange, it was almost like he was... scared of Dick. But why would he be…? 

He could ask about that later, that was… a lot of things going wrong. It was hard to imagine Bruce accidentally hurting anyone like that, he kept the awareness of his surroundings very high at all times when he was working with people precisely so nothing like that would happen. The other Bruce used his cape and hit the other him with the ricochet bullets, which was bad enough. Then he just let him to recover on his own on the hospital? Not even visiting once? That other Bruce must have felt horrible about it. And his other self had apparently been so angry he couldn't see that and had become an angry and bitter old man. 

“Its weird seeing you this young…” Terry said, taking Dick out of his thoughts and still looking at him like he might pull a knife or something. 

“I mean if my other older self looked that different I guess it would…” he conceded. But there was more, he could tell “Okay, why do you look so… tense?” 

“Tense?” he repeated, getting even more nervous now that it had been pointed out. 

“Yeah, you look… I don't know, scared of me? Did my other self do something to you...?” he asked, confused. Terry seemed to fight internally for a bit before he sighed. 

“Not the old you, but… yeah… sorry. It's just…” he ruffled his own hair in frustration “Look, this isn’t fair to you, it’s not even your fault. See in my dimension there was this... clone of you, that was like around your age now. He became Hush for a bit in this revenge quest, and tried to kill me...” he explained “He really hated me, he kept calling me pretender and... he stabbed me in the gut and left me to die in an alley, I almost bled out...” 

“Oh… wow, uh… that's a lot. No wonder you were a bit wary of me” Dick mumbled, a bit shocked. “Wait, he left you to bleed out in an alley? Was Bruce listening on the comms during that...?” 

“Yeah, actually he was….” Terry answered. 

“Evil clone me was cruel…” Dick determined. That was a cruel thing to do to Bruce, leave someone he cared about to die in an alley while he could only just listen and do nothing about it… “That makes clone me sound like I pulled a Jason during his first Red Hood phase, with the taking an old villains mantle and everything. Why was clone me so angry?” 

“Because he thought you were entitled to being Batman after the old man, basically. He thought I didn’t deserve it, that's why he kept calling me a pretender and tried to kill me… I think he also wanted to punish Wayne for that or something, making him listen to me dying without being able to help by leaving me to die like that…. Also because he was an insane clone and all that, but mostly the Batman thing, apparently” Terry explained, making a dismissive gesture with his hand. 

“... when I was younger I did think I would eventually become Batman…” Dick admitted. “Now that I’ve actually been Batman, I wouldn't wish it on anyone...” 

He remembered back in his Robin days, back when he thought being Batman in the future was the logical evolution for his career in crime fighting. Back when he had not experienced fighting with his superhero friends, or on his own, and the option of becoming his own hero didn’t occur to him. Back before he understood how suffocating it could be to be under that cowl. 

“You've been Batman?!?” Terry exclaimed in response, actually getting out of his slouch from the shock. Oh, right, Terry didn’t know he was the backup Batman. 

“Ah, yeah, a couple of times actually. Once for a short while while Bruce was recovering, and then there was a while we thought Bruce died so I had to step up. We had a whole fight about it actually, I rather we don't talk about that if you don’t mind, it was pretty chaotic” he laughed a bit “The point is I have been Batman, I have stepped into that costume a couple of times now and… it's just… to me it's like a curse” he admitted. He didn’t know why he was sharing this with Terry so readily, it was something he wouldn’t usually get into in conversation... maybe it was because he was also Batman. 

“You know… the old future you kept saying some things…” Terry began, a bit unsure “He said that the old man was a terrible, and manipulative… like he was a curse. He seemed to think that Wayne manipulated people into helping him or something, it was so… it was all so bitter and wrong” he sighed “I never believed him about that. I couldn't believe him, because… Wayne actually believed in me, you know? No one really had for a long time. He… he let me be Batman, he supported me trying to help people…. And he's done some crazy things for me, like trying to come save me when I got in trouble even though it could have probably killed him. He wouldn't have done any of that if he was the person that old Dick Grayson seemed to think he was...” 

Dick smiled broadly after hearing that, gladly surprised. Everyone seemed to think Bruce was some kind of heartless man who only lived to fight crime, and with how he acted for a long while he couldn't blame them sometimes, but truly that perception couldn't be farther from the truth. 

A man without a heart didn’t take in children like he did, finding them in terrible situations and trying to help. Dick knew that better than most, after all he had been the first child Bruce had taken in, the one who had known him the longest. He had known Bruce back when he was just learning to be a father with him, and even if he hadn’t dared to fully claim that title back then, that's what he had been by the end. He had known Bruce when he still smiled often, when he would talk a lot, when he would play silly games with Dick just because it made him happy. He knew him when no one would have called Bruce emotionless. 

He also had known Bruce when he had taken Jason in, when seeing him take another child in had made Dick horribly angry with what he could now probably admit it had been jealousy. When he confronted Bruce about bringing a new kid home Bruce had even admitted that he had missed Dick after he left. 

He hadn’t really seen Bruce with Jason that much back then, but he knew Bruce had been a good father to Jason. Jason wouldn't have been so angry about his apparent betrayal if he hadn't been, a heartless man didn’t break because he lost his son, and Bruce did. So utterly broken that when he finally began to get back recover, he hadn’t really been the same after it. 

Most of the family knew that deep down Bruce was actually softhearted, even the ones that came into the family after he lost Jason, after he built all his barriers back up and started to get a bit harsher with everyone and everything. He had his ups and downs, there were times when he dropped his guard and times where he kept his distance, but with his kids he couldn’t keep up the front too much. 

Things started getting better again, more people joined their makeshift family, he took Tim in, he took Cassandra in. And Jason came back, angry at first, but even he finally was finally back to relative normal. As normal as they could be anyhow. Bruce was finally getting definitely better. After all this time it seemed he was finally relaxing, and letting himself be a father again without all the reservations he had had. 

From what Dick knew of the old man Bruce from this other dimension he was also a harsher version of Bruce, but… seemed even he still had a bleeding heart. And Terry could see it, he could see the real Bruce past all the walls he put to his hearth, something very few people did. 

This boy was truly one of the family, Dick was completely convinced. 

“You are quite light arent you?” Dick finally said, looking at Terry with newfound wonder “How come you got to be Batman?” 

“Well, there was really no one else. But… I don't now, my Batman works, it's different from Wayne’s silence and brooding, I talk. But it's been so long since the other Batman was around, and most of my villains are newer as well, so I guess I didn't have to deal with any expectations on how I acted overall?” he offered, a bit unsure. 

Dick could understand it a bit better how Terry could be Batman after hearing that, it made sense. He had felt suffocated under the pressure of living up to the role of Batman, being like Bruce was as him, so people wouldn't be able to tell the difference, hopefully. A lot of people still could tell, but he still had tried sometimes even without realising to emulate Bruce as Batman. Terry didn’t have that problem, since he clearly had to be a different person with that many years in between he didn’t have to act like anyone but himself. 

“Ummm… you must be a great Batman” Dick finally said, smiling a bit at the thought. A Batman that talked, it sounded fun. 

“...the old man said I honored the mantle a couple of times…” Terry mumbled, scratching the back of his head “And you know how hard it is to get a direct compliment from him” 

“Yeah, it's like pulling teeth sometimes” he agreed, laughing a bit “But hey, out of all the people who've been Batman I know I think you are the best after Bruce so far. I feel proud of other dimension Bruce for actually choosing someone who could do it well” 

“You say that like there's been a lot of Batmen...?” Terry questioned, tilting his head. 

“Well, I mean… besides me, in this dimension there was this time where Bruce got attacked by Bane and got his back broken, so he couldn’t be Batman for a while. So he chose this guy called Jean Paul Valley, who used to be Azrael, to be Batman for him. It didn't go well AT ALL, the guy was crazy” he huffed, thinking to himself that that was probably an understatement. “He was way too brutal, he left people to die, he did not work with the police. In the end Bruce had to come back and take the mantle back from him by force” 

“Wow, ok I'm glad that didn't happen in my dimension” Terry said, a bit taken aback by the anger in Dicks voice “You still sound pretty mad about it” 

“It's been years, and I’m still mad about it” he sighed, trying to keep calm and explain himself “Tim said Bruce didn't ask me to be Batman back then because he thought I'd moved on and I wouldn't want it, and well that's true, but I would have stepped up for Bruce you know? I would have done it” he remarked “I mean, I ended up doing it later when he was gone… I don’t know why he couldn’t have asked me back then…. We weren’t even completely on good terms again yet, but I would practically do anything for Bruce if he really needed my help, he should have known that...” 

He knew that now, Dick was sure of that at least, but back then they had been so angry at each other Bruce didn’t think he would have helped. It hurt to remember sometimes, how bad it had gotten. 

“At least you sound like you respect him a lot in this dimension, that’s nice...” Terry commented, smiling a bit “I like Wayne, despite all his faults. It was hard to watch him try to interact with the other you and be so… incapable of it. The old you almost didn’t even talk to him directly...” 

“Bruce and we fought a long time here too, but… it never got as bad as in your dimension. Was it bad even before that… bullets thing?” he still couldn't believe that other universes Bruce actually made such a mistake. 

“Apparently it was good, then it was bad, then it was okay for a bit, then it went horribly bad” Terry replied, shrugging at Dicks confused expression “You know the old man doesn't like to talk about this kind of thing, and older you was also very bitter and hateful and only told me of all the bad things. As far as I can tell you guys were okay until the other you graduated college and Bruce didn't show up, and it started to go downhill from there” 

“Wait, alternate dimension me actually finished college?” Dick immediately asked, surprised. 

“Yes?” 

“Uuuuugh never tell Bruce that, he will never let it go” he groaned, running a hand trough his face in frustration. 

“Really? Is he that mad you didn't finish college?” Terry questioned. 

“I dropped out when we started having fights and not getting along here, so it's kind of a sore spot I suppose” he explained, sighing. Bruce wasn’t exactly mad about it, but he still didn’t like it. Too much bad blood had started to get between them during that time. “I became a cop right after that too, and Bruce wasn't happy about that either. It doesn’t help that cops carry guns, probably” 

“Um, well, he wouldn't like that either, but I think he was probably more mad that you would put your life at risk in both our jobs, and that you wouldn’t have a break from all the crime fighting” Terry replied, frowning a bit “But he was too emotionally inept to actually tell you that, because he's like that” 

Dick smiled at Terry's remarkable insight into Bruce's mentality, not many people would have actually guessed that was also a problem Bruce had with his profession. “...you actually know him pretty well, uh?” he laughed a bit “Your old Bruce must be even harder to read than the one here, how can you tell so much?” 

“Maybe it's precisely because of that…” he pointed out “ I had to work very hard to manage to read between the lines with my dimensions Bruce, yours is like easy mode by comparison” 

“Oh wise one, please share your Bruce understanding ways, for we need them when he is being an obtuse idiot” Dick said in mock reverence. After a moment both him and Terry burst out laughing. 

“Seriously though the Wayne from this dimension is way wayyy nicer than the one in mine, I've just been here a couple of days and besides Damian training from hell it's been great” Terry said once they'd calmed down. 

“Feeling at home? This family is very mismatched you know, you could fit right in if you wanted” he offhandedly suggested. 

“I mean… it's very nice, but I do have to get back to my Wayne, and my mother and brother” he quickly answered “But it's… it's very nice, here. I never thought this old mansion could have so much life, and it's just been three people here so far… there's actually five of you, how the hell did he get so many children?” 

“It just kinda happened somehow” Dick shrugged “I used to think this manor was pretty dark and oppressive too when I first came in... Bruce was all alone before I came in, it was just Alfred and him, it was lonely. To imagine him old and on his own…” he couldn't imagine a Wayne Manor without Alfred in it, or a Bruce without anyone at all. Or maybe he really didn’t want to imagine it. 

“It's very… it's very nice that he actually adopted you in this dimension… I wonder why he never did in mine, besides from you know, the whole fallout they had” Terry said, making Dick wonder as well. 

“Umm… you said Jason didn't exist in your dimension right?” he asked, remembering that was one of the things that had surprised him most from this other dimension. 

“Yeah, just you and Tim” 

“... Bruce adopted Jason first” Dick muttered. “It was… it was on of the things that made me really mad at him back in the day. That Jason got adopted almost right away, while I stayed as just his ward… I wondered if... you know, if he didn't actually think of me as anything more than a coworker or something…” 

He had also seen Bruce with Jason sometimes… he was so fatherly with him, it had made Dick furious. Because how come a random street kid got to enjoy Bruce looking at him with such pride and happiness when Dick didn't? How come Jason got to be officially adopted and Dick didn’t? Back then he had been too angry at Bruce to understand. 

“That's not it…” Terry began to say, but Dick quickly cut him off. 

“I know that now. I know that… that he thought he couldn't ask me if I wanted to be adopted…. That since I had a good set of parents, he felt he would overstep if he asked, that I would feel he was trying to replace them or something, but… I was just so mad at him back then, I couldn't get past it. Jason got adopted, and I didnt, and I was mad. And then well… then Jason died, and Tim came in as Robin, and a lot of things happened…” he sighed, not wanting to get into all the details “The point is in the end Bruce did offer to officially adopt me, and I accepted, so here we are...” 

Terry nodded, apparently satisfied with that longer explanation. He frowned after a moment, speaking up again “You think that maybe… the Bruce from my dimension, since he didn't meet Jason… since he did not adopt him… maybe that's why he never made those steps?” 

“... now that you mention it, I think that had something to do with it, yes. I hate to admit it, but Bruce got way more fatherly with Jason than with me, with me he was like a weird older brother for a long while. He kinda got more paternal as it went on, especially by the end, that's kinda why I lashed out when he tried to act like a parent all of a sudden without it feeling earned somehow…” he sighed. “I didn’t get it back then... it’s just that he was scared, he was scared that I would reject him if he asked.The day he actually offered to adopt me... can you believe he got really nervous about it?” 

“He did?” the younger boy asked, clearly curious about this. Dick smiled slightly, it was rare he got to tell of Bruce being vulnerable. 

“Yeah, he gave me the papers and then started rambling… afraid that I would think it was frivolous or unnecessary, that I would reject him… he was trying to say it was the only way he could think of to show me how much he cared about me, and I had to cut him off so I could tell him that I got it, that I loved him too” 

Bruce had taken so long to offer him adoption, and Dick had not dared to ask. But the day Bruce had given him those papers… when he had signed them and they finally got through after that short interference they had to face… it had felt great. 

“He wasn’t scared of just my rejection tough, it was also what actually being family would mean… Bruce is scared of having people close to him” Dick continued, looking at Terry and knowing the other boy seemed to understand what he was talking aobut “He is afraid to lose them. So he drives people away, or at least he tried, for a long while… it’s better now, even though he still has a tendency to close off…” 

Dick couldn't help but think about the old Bruce from Terry’s dimension as he spoke those words. He could just imagine him all alone in the manor after he had successfully driven everyone else away… he was glad Terry had found him and hadn’t been scared off as well. 

“I wish I could make the other you reconsider his hatred towards the old man. He's so… viscerally angry, I didn't dare to even try to fix things” Terry complained, probably guessing where his thoughts had taken him. 

“He must still like him a bit deep down, I think, if he’s me. I can't hate Bruce, even at my worst moments with him I was just mad, I didn't actually… hate him” He could never truly hate a man that had taken him in at on of the worst moments of his life, that had become his second father. He jumped to Bruce's defense when someone tried to hurt him every time, even when they weren’t in the best of terms. He could be mad at Bruce, he was for years, but he couldn’t hate him, not deep down. That had to be a universal constant right? At least he was pretty sure it had to be. 

“Think I should try to patch them up maybe...?” Terry asked, a bit unsure. 

“Well… it can't hurt to try right? I mean what's the worst that can happen, that they hate each other more?” 

“Fair point” he agreed “So, did you want to do anything besides try to interrogate me to see how good of a Batman I am or something?” 

“Eh, we could watch a movie since we are here” he pointed at the big tv they were sitting in front of, searching around for the remote “Maybe they are different in you dimension or something, and you can watch something that has never happened in yours” 

“Maybe. As long as it's not that old zorro movie that Wayne likes I'm down” Terry agreed, passing him the remote that he apparently had had the entire time. 

“Ah yes, the Zorro movies will forever be linked with good old Bruce, uh?” he snickered a bit, opening up the tvs menu “But no, how about a Disney movie? You like musicals?” 

“Musicals...?” Terry repeated, suddenly getting a crazily delighted look in his eyes as he grabbed Dick by the shoulders “Oh god, I gotta tell you something, you need to know. I my dimension there's a Batman musical” 

“....what? Are you serious?” Dick asked, trying to process what he had just heard “Please tell me you are” 

“I am dead serious. It's amazing, I brought the old man to it for his eightieth birthday and he didn't even last two songs” 

This was just too good to be true. 

“Oh my god. You need to tell me about this musical, I need to know all the songs, we need to recreate it somehow. TELL ME EVERYTHING” 

* * *

Terry couldn’t believe the Dick Grayson of this dimension was so nice. They had talked for hours after Terry explaining all of the Batman musical and all the songs in it and Dick loving every second of it. They finally left the room to go to the kitchen and eat something, where they just kept chatting till Wayne walked in, looking at them with a slightly raised eyebrow and a small smile. 

“You seem to get along well” he commented as he got some food from the fridge. 

“Well Bruce, you know that I have a special talent to understand the biological Wayne’s, I’m like the Wayne whisperer” Dick joked, making Terry frown a bit. These people were not gonna let him forget that he was Wayne's actual son were they? He still couldn't fully wrap his head around the concept. 

“Terry isn’t as hard to get along with as Damian and I. So in this case, this success doesn’t have as much merit, don’t you think?” the older man replied. 

“I’m still the best as dealing with you and your broodiness and you know it” he said, leaning back on his chair with a satisfied smile, while Wayne sighed. 

“You weren’t kidding when you said the would all really come see” Terry said to Wayne, pointing to Dick “He came a whole city away just for this” 

“I did warn you” he said with a slight smile. 

“Just wait till Cassandra comes, she will come all the way from Hong Kong for this” Dick remarked. 

“Oh yeah, I meant to ask you more about her, she doesn’t exist in my universe either” Terry remembered, wondering if he would actually get more information from this two than form Damian. 

“The main thing you need to know is that she's the clear favorite” Dick immediately chimed in, making Wayne frown. 

“That's not… why would you say that?” he weakly protested. 

“Because she is B, we all know this” Dick spread his arms with a smug smile. 

“What, is she the favorite cause she's the only girl? All the boys in this family seem so rowdy” Terry laughed. 

“I wouldn't discard that being a factor too, but no” he got really close to Terry, looking at him intensely as if he was telling him the world's biggest secret “You see, she is the favorite because he doesn't actually have to TALK to her, since she can read body language and all” 

“My god, of course!” Terry gasped theatrically “I should have known! Obviously he would favour someone that doesn't force him to talk to get understood” 

“See? I knew you'd get it” Dick laughed, quickly getting joined by Terry when Wayne groaned at their little antics. 

“I’m not THAT bad…” he complained “I talk, sometimes…” 

“Riiight, grunts aren’t talking Bruce” Dick remarked, earning him an angry grunt that didn't seem to phase him at all, despite the angry glare that accompanied it being a bat glare worthy of a better cause “See what I mean? Was it that hard to use words there?” 

“You got what I meant, didn’t you?” Wayne replied. 

“Yeah, because by now we are experts in the art of grunt deciphering, aren't we Terry?” 

Terry blinked a bit surprised to be included in that affirmation. “Well, I…” he wanted to protest, but he guessed he was an expert by now, uh? “I have to agree there, not everyone can be expected to get what you mean by those all the time” 

“Hnn” a slight grunt escaped Wayne again, but this time it wasn't an angry one. More exasperated and amused than anything else. “You got that?” 

“Yeah, we kids are tiring, but you love us anyway” Dick answered, getting up “Anyway, I think I should go check on Damian too, if he finds I came and didn’t see him he will flip a table. See you later Terry! We need to tell everyone else about that musical thing when we all get together, they’ll love it” he said, ruffling Terry's hair before he got out of the kitchen. 

“He sure is… sunny” Terry offered, not sure how else to describe him. “I mean I knew he used to be like, the boy wonder and all that, but… wow” 

“He is the brightest presence in this family, yes” Wayne agreed. 

“Not like that's very hard” Terry joked, earning him an amused huff from the older man “He told me he has been Batman and I’m still having a hard time believing it” 

“He was, I probably should have mentioned that when I gave you explanations” he nodded, “There’s a lot of details from everyone… I could tell you all, but I feel they should tell you themselves…” 

“Umm yeah that's probably for the best” Terry agreed. Then he had a thought he couldn't shake since he had found out there had been many Batmen in this universe “Uh so, there have been at least three Batman in here?” 

“...he told you about Jean Paul, didn’t he?” he sighed. “Yes, that was… a mistake on my part…” 

“I mean, he did sound a bit unstable, but he changed the suit or something too...?” 

“Yes, it was some kind of armour really… he turned it red like his old Azrael costume by the end” 

“Yes, so um, you know… that made me kinda wonder… do you… do you think maybe I rely on my suit too much?” he asked, starting to ramble immediately without even meaning to “I mean, I’ve gone without the suit before, but even so. I still I feel like without my version of you there I would be so much worse at the Batman job, I mean I’m not as smart as you either...” 

“...is Damian's training getting to you?” Wayne asked, getting closer with clear concern “He has high standards, but don’t let his drill sergeant act get you down. Just because your costume boosters your strength doesn’t mean you are a bad Batman for not being as good at martial arts or detective work. That’s not all Batman is” he remarked, looking Terry in the eyes so he could tell he really meant that last part “And in my own opinion… I think you are the exact kind of person for this job” he said, a proud smile surfacing on his lips. 

Terry laughed softly, shaking his head. Amazing how similar these people were sometimes “Damian said something like that, he said that… he said that if the other version of you said I was a good Batman, then that must mean I had the right spirit for it, that was harder to obtain than any skill….” 

“He was right. The mantle of Batman is… a heavy burden. I didn’t want to let it fall on Dick when he started to escape my shadow, because I thought it would drown him. He managed to bear it, but I can see it choked him. You on the other hand? You don't let it drag you down at all. In fact it seems you soar with it” he smiled, putting a hand on Terry's shoulder reassuringly “You would make any version of me proud” 

Terry gulped. He was… he was not ready for that. At all. A Bruce Wayne that smiled softly and gave such amazing compliments? Saying he was proud? He barely even knew Terry! How could he even know all that? How could he say that like it was an unshakeable truth? He didn’t know how to handle this. 

Wayne seemed to feel his discomfort a bit, as he soothingly rubbed his shoulder. “Hey, Terry, its okay… I’m sorry if I said too much” 

“N-no, it’s fine, Wayne, it's just… a lot at once” he managed to mumble. 

The man cringed slightly “...say, do you have to call me Wayne? It sounds so… stiff, and formal” 

“You mean I’m making you feel a bit old?” Terry laughed a bit at that, he hadn’t even thought about it, but this version of Wayne probably didn’t get called that much, especially by his proteges. 

“...maybe” he grumbled. He was so petty sometimes uh? 

“Well I mean, my you had like sixty years on me. I either called you that or boss, or old man when I was feeling bold” he explained. He did call him Bruce sometimes, when it was really important, but not that often. 

“Just… just call me Bruce. Or B, a lot of you kids do that. It's fine” he insisted. 

“... B. Yeah, okay… maybe it will be better, so I don't confuse you with the old man as much…” he agreed. Bruce, or just B. It was strange, but it made him relax slightly just to change that detail in his mind. To think of Bruce as a separate but extremely similar person as Wayne, someone he didn’t have to be so afraid to disappoint made him finally be able to just enjoy that reassuring hand on his shoulder without giving it too much thought.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Its kind of my personal headcanon that Jason not being there was what caused Bruce to not jump to adoption in the DCAU, but this is my fic, so I guess Im allowed to put it there, and I think makes a lot of sense. Because Jason was the first one adopted, and the only one for a long time, because Bruce was scared of people dying when they get close to him. In fact in Gotham knights theres this part where Bruce has a nightmare of the Waynes and the Graysons fighting because of how he treats Dick and one of the Graysons is like "at least he hasnt died, like the one he actually adopted" and then a ghost of Jason shows up, so yeaaaah?  
> Btw in Gotham knights is where Bruce adotps Dick as well. The scene of Bruce finally offering adoption to Dick is adorable, he gives him the paper and has inmediate fear of rejection and starts rambling, its cuteXD theres like a whole mini arc of Bruce adopting Dick  
> Also if you guys havent seen Batman beyond, altough I dont know why you would be reading this if you havent, please at least go see the Batman musical from it, its gold. Also go see Holy musical Batman too if you guys havent seen it, thats one of the best Batman things to ever exist tbh  
> We all know Cassandra is the clear favorite for Bruce right? Also shes good at hiding shes in the top 3 of misbehaving children in this lot, she gets away with things quite easy XD  
> You know, I didnt make that Azrael and Terry connection of relying a lot on the suit thign until I wrote that conversation at the end, but I feel that would be a concern for Terry after hearing about that mess that was Azbat


	5. Chapter 5

Jason was finally getting to spend some time at home, and despite his obvious interest in the newcomer since after all he had been the one to first find him, he decided he had some other priorities. So he waited till he knew Bruce was out before he actually got back.

He wanted to take the Porsche 911 carrera for a ride, Bruce had agreed to let him take it eventually, no doubt when his whole return form the death was finished up and he got his driving licence back. But he really didn't want to wait that long, so he had been planning to get it out for a ride right before spending some time at the manor for a while, and this dimensional new siblings sudden appearance wasn't going to change his plans. 

He entered Bruce's regular cars garage, if you could call the supercars normal, but it was comparatively to the garage downstairs. He sighed wistfully at all the amazing machines in there, he used to come by there a lot to admire them when he had just been taken in and wasn’t in the mood for reading. It was a pity that sometimes the cars had of the bad destiny of being destroyed for the sake of covering up Bruce’s injuries, at least Bruce kept buying more anyway. 

The Porsche 911 carrera from 1985 had always caught his eye, how could it not, and Bruce also liked it enough to have never chosen it for destruction. He had hoped to ride it when he finally got his licence, maybe even along with Bruce, make a day out of it in celebration or something. 

But then… well, he had died before he got to sixteen. And Bruce and him hadn’t really been in good enough terms for him to ask for the car until recently. He supposed he could have stolen it before, but… it didn’t feel right, he wanted to actually drive it with the old man's blessing. And he had gotten permission after all, he just didn’t want to wait anymore. 

He got the car ready and was about to start heading out, but he was surprised when right in the middle of it when he heard someone talk to him. “Are you stealing one of the old mans cars?” 

Jason looked to where the voice had come from with a bit of dread, but relaxed when he saw it was actually Terry. The new kid didn't look mad or anything, just seemingly curious about what he was doing, which was better than what would have happened had it been anyone else. 

“How come you are here in the middle of the night, uh?” Jason asked, a bit surprised he was here. 

“My sleep cycle is weird and this weird week isn’t doing it any favours, so I was walking around the house bored and I heard something in the garage, and here you are stealing one of the cars…” the kid replied. 

“I'm not stealing, I actually asked for it” Jason explained with a smirk, since he was telling the truth after all. 

“And you got permission?? How the hell did you do that?” Terry complained. Oh, Jason he knew that whiny tone, he must have tried to borrow some cars from his Bruce at some point with no luck. 

“That's for me to know, and you wonder” he replied as he laughed. It's not like he was going to to admit to this new kid that he had gotten permission because he called Bruce dad while asking for it, he wouldn't tell a soul about that if he could help it. It was a trick no one else should know about if he wanted to keep getting away with things like that. 

“But if you have permission, why are you taking it in the middle of the night?” Terry asked, crossing his arms and looking at Jason suspiciously. 

“Well, gotta keep the old man on his toes somehow...” he made a dismissive gesture with his hand “Besides, he doesn't want me to actually drive them around until I’m officially back from the dead and all so…” 

“... riiiight...” he arched an eyebrow, clearly not convinced. 

Well, he could think of something to make him not rat him out immediately. “... want to come take a ride?” he suggested. 

“Sure, I don't think I’ve ever been in a car with wheels that's this old” he shrugged, getting into the car along with Jason. 

“So your future dimension had flying cars? Cool” he had always wondered if flying cars would be an actual thing someday, seemed at least in some dimension they were. 

“Well the batmobile is a flying car. The others just mostly… hover” he shrugged again, looking at the cars around the garage with a nostalgic smile. “I get to drive the old man around a lot, his cars are always nice no matter the dimension it seems” 

“That they are, they are amazing. And you probably need to get out of this manor for a bit anyhow, I bet they haven’t really let you out much” Terry nodded in confirmation as Jason turned the car on and started driving. He put on the Green Day CD he had brought for the occasion, as he had thought it would be a perfect choice for a joy ride in such a car, and he was completely right. He hummed, completely content in that moment. However his companion didn't seem as enthusiastic as he was. 

“Are we actually going to do anything in this trip? I mean, it’s the middle of the night” Terry asked, probably realizing just then he didn’t know if there were going anywhere. 

“Nah, I just kinda want to drive around, but we could go pick up some girls or something if you want?” he offered, thinking that showing up with a classic car was probably a good starting move for that. 

“I have a girlfriend” Terry replied, arching an eyebrow. 

“Oh. Well, then I could pick up some girls while you look with envy” he laughed a bit, focusing on the car again. He couldn't believe how well it handled, Bruce kept his cars in amazing condition and he couldn't be more glad “God, isn't this baby amazing?” 

“I mean it's cool, pretty fast for an old car too” Terry casually commented, looking at the passing scenery with some curiosity. Jason frowned, his contentment broken by that comment that sounded almost dismissive. Did e not realize the vehicle he was in? 

“...dude, it's a Porsche 911 carrera 3 from 1985” he said, hoping that would be enough of an explanation as to why this kid should be awed just to be in it, as he had been the first time he'd seen Bruce had one in the garage. 

“Okay? So it's even older than I thought?” Terry replied, now looking back at Jason with confusion. 

“What the fuck man, this is a classic! Why is it only Bruce and me appreciate nice cars? Next you are going to tell me you don't like the music either” Jason complained, feeling outraged. 

“I mean… it's also old, like the kind of thing dads listen to or something” 

The kind of things dad listen to? Had he seriously just heard that? Was that something that had just been been said to him? 

“I can’t fucking believe this, you are making me feel old! I’m not old! I'm barely twenty!” he complained. 

“You realize from my perspective you're like in my dad's generation right?” the kid laughed, clearly amused by Jasons indignant rage. 

“Ugh. I'm starting to empathize with Bruce when he looks offended when we insult his music choices for being old. Next time he puts on something by The Clash I'm not gonna call him out at all for his old ways” he sighed. He honestly couldn't believe this, how could this kid make him feel old like that? If anyone should feel old between all the bat siblings it should be Dick, at least, not him. If he had existed in his universe he probably would have educated this kid a bit in the amazingness of classic cars and good rock music, but no, apparently his other dimensional self had more important things to do on the day he met Bruce than stealing the batmobiles tires and now he had to endure this ignorance. 

“You two are oddly similar in weird things” the younger boy laughed, taking Jason out of his distracted mind. Was he comparing him to Bruce? And not in a mean manner apparently, more like a compliment. Uh. That was unusual, and... oddly good to hear. 

“Humph, don't tell anyone else that, they'll think you are crazy for comparing us” he smiled a bit despite himself, maybe this kid was better than he thought. “So, future boy, how are you liking the past?” 

“It's crowded” he answered, earning a confused look from Jason “I mean… I feel like it's crowded with all these people around Wayne, I’m so used to being the only one in the manor besides him, so it’s… it’s weird for me, you know” 

Jason did know, all too well. Back when he had been Robin it had just been him, Bruce and Alfred living in the Manor. Then when he came back from the dead the house was practically full. It was weird, and he hadn't liked it at all at the start, but now he appreciated his weird family. Even if he wouldn't admit that outright. 

But well, when he had first seen that Bruce had taken in another Robin… he hadn’t taken it well. It was almost like he was Peter Pan coming back to his home only to find the window closed and another kid in his bed. The Lazarus pit madness had not helped at all, clouding his mind with anger so he couldn't see anything beyond Bruce having replaced him. 

When he finally calmed down and started to join the family again, he had felt very uncomfortable with all this new people there. He had felt so out of place, as all the new kids had made their own little corners of the hose theirs, while he hadn't even dared go back to his old room. And they all got along with Bruce pretty well, while they were still in a stalemate for so long. When he started to relax and fit into the house again he realized some things, like how some of those awkward feelings he couldn't place towards the sudden surge of siblings where that he had somehow felt cheated out of Bruce's full time and attention, since he used to have it all to himself back in the day. 

So if Terry was used to just having Bruce there for him to suddenly be thrown into the full Bat family? Yeah, he could see how that would be weird. At least Terry didn’t seemingly feel replaced or anything like he had been, which he supposed made sense, since he wasn't even aware he was actual family till he came to this dimension. He must have treated his relationship with Bruce as more of a boss and employee one, while undoubtedly still seeing Bruce as a bit of a paternal figure since he tended to have that effect on people. 

“Yeah... we are a lot. I'm still a bit upset your Bruce didn't meet me” he huffed. He honestly was more than a bit upset about it, how come his other self didn't get to meet Bruce? What had he done to not get one of the best things that ever happened to him to happen? He had learnt that he had met Bruce on his parents death anniversary, when Bruce always went to patrol Crime Alley in some weird tradition of his. So his other self missed the only chance he had at stealing the Batmans tires, and didn’t meet at all. He didn't like it. He didn’t like it one bit. 

“You… seem to be a very important part of Bruce's life here. I can see why that difference made a big impact...” Terry mumbled, and Jason could see in his hesitation that he wanted to say more than that. So, someone must have told him that he died and he didn't know how to bring it up, couldn't really blame him. 

“You mean cause I died? You can say it” he laughed a bit “Dont be that nervous about it, it's almost common knowledge for everyone who is around me enough to hear me make jokes about it” 

“Well… yeah. There's a lot more than that, but that's a very strong point too, apparently that almost broke him from what they told me? But now you are back? And apparently you were real mad at Bruce at first but he seemed only to be very sad about it, I don't know. Seriously, how did this whole thing happen?” he asked, and apparently immediately regretted it “Ah wait you probably dont wanna talk about it, I mean Bruce told me some of it and it sounded very bad, I mean of course it's bad you died! Ugh slagging… forget it, is just…” 

Jason arched an eyebrow at that weird swear word, wondering if it was a weird future thing or a weird dimensional thing. In any case he felt a bit bad seeing Terry getting so flustered with this whole thing. Poor kid, this whole topic was weird to approach. He decided to throw him a bone and just clear some things up, since Bruce must have given him the direct details. 

“... the Joker killed me” he said after a pause to get his thoughts in order. “It was… I made a stupid mistake, I trusted the wrong person and she betrayed me and handed me over to him…. Then I got beat up with a crowbar, and the warehouse I was in exploded. We still don't know exactly how I came back, I don't really remember much of it, but at some point Talia got a hold of me and got me into a Lazarus pit” 

“That turns people slightly insane for a bit doesn't it...?” 

“Yeah… when I learnt that the Joker was still alive after everything that happened and that Bruce had taken Tim in as Robin, I was so mad at him… I went on a whole revenge quest and tried to destroy everything Bruce loved… I was very intense about it” he took a deep breath. His quest had been so all consuming back then, at first he had almost killed Bruce. And then he could only think of what he'd do to make Bruce see. Make him see that his methods weren’t enough, make him see that some people didn’t deserve his mercy, make him see that he should kill the Joker for what he had done. But… deep down he had just wanted Bruce to show that he had cared about him. That the street rat Jason Todd had mattered enough to Bruce Wayne for him to see him as his son, and he thought if he could make him break his rule for him he would get that. But he shouldn’t have gone to such extremes for that, he had just wanted to make Bruce suffer because he had felt betrayed. 

He shouldn't have gone after Tim either, he hadn’t deserved the pain he had put him through just because he had been jealous. He had felt replaced when he heard there was another Robin, and had made Tim the objective of his ire, despite not even knowing him. Despite him just being a kid. Despite him trying his best to help Bruce out of the downwards spiral he had entered after his death, something he had refused to admit had actually happened for a while. He shouldn't have lashed out after Bruce seemingly died either, or shot Damian. There were many things he wasn't exactly proud of anymore. 

“I’m better now, the Lazarus pit influence has faded for the most part” he said, trying to take a deep breath to calm down. He didn't need to remember all the regrets he had about his quest against Bruce looking back “And after a lot of roadblocks in our reconciliation, and I mean a lot, Bruce and me actually started to talk. So here I am, working on the whole coming back to life officially and on paper. Honestly it's better than I could have hoped for...” 

He hadn't expected to be able to come back into the family to the point he had now. Hell he almost had not expected to be let back in at all, at some points. But Bruce wanted him back, and finally actually started to actually act on that, and Jason couldn't deceive himself into thinking he didn't want it anymore. He wanted Bruce to be his dad again, he wanted those hugs he gave that made him feel safe and cared for, and for Bruce to still call him Jay with fondness in his voice…. He had missed all of that during those years he had spent stranded from him. The others wanted him back too, despite everything. He didn’t think he missed Dick’s octopus hugs, but when he had gotten another one again he realized he had. And he didn't even know he liked hanging out with his other siblings until he started to do it. 

“So you died, and then came back… that must be so weird” Terry mumbled, almost as if this concept was actually as strange as it should be. Dying and resurrecting out of nowhere must not be too common in his universe if he was this confused about it. 

“Honestly nowadays dying and coming back has turned so normal it's a bit ridiculous” Jason complained. If he hadn’t died long before this turned into just a regular occurrence Bruce would have probably found him faster. 

“Oh yeah, didn't Bruce die and come back too...?” 

“I mean we thought he died, but he wasn't technically death, just lost in time. Ask Tim about that one, it was weird and I still don’t fully get it. But they did have to kill him for like a minute or something, so technically he did die for a bit. Dick did too when he faked his death! I found out he actually did die for a couple of minutes too” he remembered, he guessed that counted for being dead and coming back too. 

“Ok has everyone in this family died and came back?” Terry asked, now with a frown. 

“Well Damian also died and came back. And Cass also died and almost died and came back, we talked about it because one of them involved the Lazarus pit and she was a bit concerned. She told me she got punched back to life in the other one, can you believe it?” he laughed, but he kept going through all his family members in his mind. Wow, he hadn't realized how many times they all had died “Oh! Wait! Tim! We tough he died but he actually didn't at all, he hasn't died yet! There we go, we got one” 

“This is an amazingly low bar” the younger one replied as he arched an eyebrow. 

“Hey you also haven’t died and come back” Jason laughed, and after a small pause added menacingly “Yet” 

“Oh shut up, I don't even know if I'm officially part of this family” Terry replied, crossing his arms with a huff. 

“...you are” Jason smiled knowingly. He knew that attitude. He had seen it in himself far too many times not to recognize it now. 

“Look, just because turns out Bruce is my biological dad doesn’t make me family” 

“It kinda does, but really it's more about your Bruce taking you in” he explained. “Look, I didn't think… I didn't think I was part of this family either, for the longest time. I mean… I was just some street rat and suddenly I was the adopted son of a millionaire, and I was also Robin. And Bruce was such a good dad back then, I didn’t even know how to take that, I mean I never had anything like that before! How was I supposed to handle a parent that liked and wanted me around...? And for him to be someone that amazing, someone I actually wanted to impress and make proud. I didn't think… well I didn't think I was worthy of having all of that, and then I died and though I had lost it forever so I tried to convince myself that I didn't even want it in the first place, but I did. I did” he took a deep breath, trying to calm down. He hadn't meant to go off like that. “Look, the point is that it's not about blood, as much as the demon thought so at the start. This is a family of choice. Bruce choose us, all of us, and so we are all family” he hit Terry in the shoulder playfully “Even weird dimensional and time distanced ones” 

“... you are all really weird” Terry replied, with a small amused smile. “But… I think I get what you are saying. It’s just… hard to get the idea in my head” 

“Yep, well you have the rest of the week to get used to it” he remarked, “So, what is it that prompted you to be Batman anyway? I don't think you do it out of the good of your heart” 

“I kinda do, partly, but… well, it was mostly guilt” he frowned “Look I… when my parents divorced, I took it real bad, I started lashing out, mixed in with the wrong crowd… I was one of those punks B would have punched without a second thought. I would have gone to jail if I hadn't been a minor, but I ended up in juvie” 

Wait, had he heard that correctly? Juvie? As in juvenile hall? “Holy shit, you went to juvie? How long?” Jason asked as he stared at his new brother with new found wonder. 

“Like three months?” he replied, apparently a bit ashamed about it. 

“Oh my god, finally a brother with a criminal record that isn’t murder” he laughed, he couldn’t belive it, Bruce truly had a gift for finding problem children “I mean Dick was in juvie for a bit too, I think, but that was more of Gotham being shitty and not knowing what to do with an orphan, you actually went there because you did some bad stuff right?” 

“Why are you so upbeat about this? What, were you a bad kid too?” Terry questioned, confused by his reaction. 

“Oh yeah, but I didn't get caught!” he laughed again “Well, I did get caught by Bruce, but he's Batman. I think that's a sign of amazingness on my part, really” 

“Sure, whatever” he huffed “Look I know… compared to all you guys this seems a bit ridiculous I guess, but…. All that lashing out I did, I really broke my parents' hearts, and those three months in juvie might have made me clean on the state's eyes, but not on mine. I still feel I should be locked up there. And maybe I first became Bamtan to investigate my dads murder, but when I actually started to do the job I realized I liked it, that it made me feel better. I… I wanted to help people to redeem myself, and the more I do it the more I see this job is what I’m good at” 

“....you really are Bruce's son, he also is mostly motivated by guilt and the want to help” he smiled a bit, clearly seeing how Terry took after his father on that aspect. Bruce felt guilty about everything bad that ever happened in his vicinity, at least this kid felt guilty about his own criminal past and not that he couldn't stop things that were impossible to prevent from happening. And he liked helping people, he seemed to enjoy the hero job as much as Dick did. He seemed to believe in people too, if he stayed with that old bitter version of Bruce without many problems. 

“Yeah that's true… I still think maybe I'm a bit… under qualified after seeing you all here” Terry commented. So Damian's constant training must have made him question his own abilities, he should tell that little demon to ease up a bit on the new kid. 

“Look, how long have you been doing this job?” Jason asked. 

“Uh? Like three years…?” 

“Just three years?” he repeated, incredulous. “Terry, we’ve been at this waaaaay longer than that, and were trained much more troughtly. You can't expect to compare to that this soon in your career! I mean Bruce trained for like ten years, Dick was an acrobat even before Bruce took him in, I was trained for years by masters all over the world, Tim got the most intense training any of us got from Bruce, and Damian and Cassandra were practically trained from birth” he enumerated “You are young. You'll get better” 

“O… okay, I know that, but it’s just… I don’t know, I guess I never had anyone to compare to before besides B himself, you know. And the old man says I’m doing well, but…” he started, and Jason decided to interrupt him before he got any further. 

“Kid if your Bruce, who apparently is a bitter old man, said you are good, then that's as good as it gets” he said, looking at him with intensity for a moment to make sure he got it. After a moment of almost protesting again and getting a quick shush from Jason, Terry seemed to finally take the words in, looking away a bit embarrassed. 

“I um… thanks…?” he mumbled. 

“No problem. And look, if we are honest I’m just glad to finally have a brother with a criminal past at last, it was tiring to be the only bad boy around here” he laughed. 

“Bruce did say you would like me, I can't believe he was so right” Terry remarked, laughing along. 

“Sometimes the old man is very perceptive, some might even say he's the world's greatest detective” he rolled his eyes. 

“And yet he can't see some obvious stuff sometimes” he sighed, leaning back and enjoying the ride for a bit. 

Jason was thoughtful for a moment. There was something he had been meaning to know more about from this other dimension since he heard about it. This seemed like as good a time as any to ask. “...so… I've heard in your dimension the Joker is dead? How did that happen?” 

“...the short story version is Tim shot him dead” Terry quickly answered. 

“Tim? Wow.. That's… unexpected, but okay” Tim didn’t have a particularly bitter hate of the Joker, at least not compared to Jason. He did tell him the Joker trapped him in a car on christmas once while he ran over people, but that didn't seem to be enough to warrant him shooting him. “Long story version?” 

The boy sighed, apparently like he was expecting this question because he had the story ready to go. He told him that his dimensions Tim got captured and tortured by the Joker and Harley for three weeks in some kind of attempt to turn him like them. Three fucking weeks, holy shit. Jason had only spend a short time at the Joker’s mercy and it had been the worst time of his life, he couldn't imagine that torture extending for three weeks. He shuddered at the thought. 

Then Terry explained to him that during that time the Joker had put a DNA chip on Tim that had slowly turned him into the Joker over the years, quite literally this time, and he had seen him turn in front of him. “Wait, so he actually turned into the Joker? Like physically?” 

“Yep, even his vocal cords matched apparently, Wayne did a test to try to see if it was really him when he gave a TV message” 

“Fucking hell, thats just… eugh” Jason coudln’t help making a disgusted face. 

“Yeah, it wasn't pretty to watch the transformation happen either” Terry said, agreeing with his disgust “I can’t blame Wayne for trying to stop me from going against the Joker after I learnt about all he did. And he sent some people after me so I had to get involved in the end anyhow. But hey, at least I got him to lose his cool before he was gone for good”he shrugged. 

“...What?” Jason managed to say when he processed what he had just heard. “You made him… lose his cool?” 

“Oh, yeah. You see, I asked Wayne for some advice on how to handle fighting the Joker, and he said he liked to talk and not to get distracted. And then I had a revelation, I like to talk too” he smiled, clearly proud of his course of action “So, first I started to fight dirty, I kneed him in the crotch. And he got all indignant, saying how the real Batman would never fight like that. And so, I taunted him. Saying how he probably was so obsessed with the old man because he never managed to make him laugh, and I said was because he never any funny to begin with. I called him pathetic. And then I laughed at him” 

“You… laughed AT him?” he was smiling in disbelief. When Jason had captured the Joker during his first Red Hood days and kept him captive he had remarked how he wasn’t as insane as he acted up as, and laughed at him when he had shut up in response. But somehow Terry’s tale was almost more amazing, but the Joker had not just shut up, he had apparently gotten angry about it. 

“Oh yes, I laughed at him. The most condescending laugh you can imagine. And he couldn’t handle it, at all” he was clearly enjoying telling this tale too much judging by his smirk “He fucking lost it, he screamed at me to shut up and stop laughing at him. He tried to strangle me and everything, which was how I managed to get him close enough to electrocute him and get the chip destroyed” 

Jason laughed so hard he almost had to stop the car. “Holy shit! Terry, I don't care if you are a weird dimension and time distanced one, I think you are now my favorite brother” 

* * *

Terry had enjoyed the car ride more than he thought, perhaps Jason was right when he had praised the car to high heaven when Terry had asked more about it out of curiosity. For being such a nerd with the things he liked Jason was pretty cool, Terry had to admit. He had thought he was pretty cool already when he had first met him, but the conversation they had during the long car ride had cemented his opinion. 

They had spent so long driving around it was almost sunrise by the time they got back, and when they finally got back to the Manor, somewhat unsurprisingly, Bruce was expecting them at the garage. 

He didn’t look mad, but he did have his arms crossed as if he were a disappointed dad, despite his fond expression “I thought it might have been you taking out the Porsche, didn't expect you brought Terry into your little escapade” he said to Jason as he arched an eyebrow. 

“It was some brotherly bonding time, old man. We had fun” Jason replied, shrugging with a laugh. Terry should have probably been a bit alarmed with how easily he had accepted the fact all of Bruce’s children had started calling him brother, but somehow he wasn’t. 

“I see. I’m glad to see I was right about you two getting along” the old man commented, looking at Terry significantly. 

“Yeah, you were totally right, B” Terry confirmed. Somehow Bruce was always right “To think I wasn’t the only juvenile delinquent to turn into a Bat and didn’t know it till now” 

“He told you about the tires didn’t he?” Bruce sighed, making Jason smile proudly and get next to Terry. Terry laughed as he nodded, Jason had indeed told him that Bruce had taken him in after finding him stealing the batmobiles tires, and hitting him with a tire iron. And he tought stealing the batsuit and Bruce still taking him in was bad. 

“Yep, how could we not bond over stealing from you as our first big interaction with Batman?” he said, putting an arm around Terrys shoulders “We are living proof you are a magnet for problem children” 

“...I can’t really argue against that” Bruce sighed. 

“Well, as much fun as this is” Terry said, unable to hold his yawn any longer “I should get back to the manor, that was some late night outing there, I need some sleep” 

“You didn’t sleep before we left didn’t you? Despite what it might seem we all need sleep from time to time” Jason reprimanded, Terry had to arch an eyebrow at the nagging tone. 

“Eh its fine, I usually am up at weird hours. I luckily don’t have any responsibilities in this weird week, besides Damian's training from hell” he shrugged, and started to leave as they both waved him goodbye. It was only when he was about to leave that he realized he had left his jacket on the car, and he wasn't about to leave one of Bruce's ancient jackets behind, he had sorta grew attached to it. 

When he turned back, he stopped in his when he realized Bruce and Jason were talking. Maybe he shouldn't eavesdrop but… he couldn't help it when he realized they were talking about him. 

“Bruce you have to keep him” Jason was practically begging. 

“He's not a pet” he grunted in response. 

“Oh come on, don't act like you aren't always down for having more children” Jason replied, rolling his eyes in exasperation “I know you, and you want to keep him around. Don’t think I didn’t notice he has switched from calling you Wayne to calling you B since I left him here the first day. And both Damian and Dick seemed to like him too from what I’ve gathered. You’d like for him to stay around, just admit it” 

“It seems to me that you are also a bit too eager to keep him around” Bruce said “What brought this enthusiasm?” 

“We bonded! He’s cool, did you know he was in juvie?” Jason answered, making Bruce let out a short laugh before getting serious. 

“Look…” the old man said, sighing deeply “He's Batman. In his dimension the mantle is his responsibility, and that’s not something you can walk away from that easy. And he has a mother, and a brother, and the other me, a whole life. We can't just ask him to stay because we like him” Terry felt himself blush slightly, had Bruce really given thought to the idea before Jason brought it up? He seemed to have that argument ready to go. He was right about all those reasons why he couldn't stay, of course, but… it was nice to know that they liked him enough to offer. 

“Aha, so you WOULD like him to stay! I knew you were okay with more kids” Jason laughed triumphantly. “He has a girlfriend too, by the way. He told me during our little car ride” 

“Even more reasons we can’t ask him to stay” 

“Look, why don't you just ask him to keep in check? Maybe visit every weekend or something?” Jason suggested, and Bruce actually seemed to pause to think it over. 

“If that is even possible with dimensional travel, maybe...” he finally said. Terry was a bit surprised, could they actually do that? Because he wouldn't exactly be against that idea either… 

“Well, that's not a no” Jason said as he nodded “So I'll take it” 

“Speaking of taking, did you have to take this car precisely? I was going to let you ride it anyway...” the old man asked with a frown. 

“Yeah well, I couldn't wait anymore! I waited years to ride this car!” Jason protested. 

“I know, you wouldn't shut up about how you were going to drive it as soon as you could when you were found out I had it” Bruce laughed softly, looking at the vehicle with a nostalgic look. “I… I guess I was looking forward to ride it with you someday, still. I wanted to be there when you did, I suppose…” 

“... next time, dad. When I'm actually officially back, you will be the first to ride along with me” Jason mumbled.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aah the criminal boys get to bond at last, I had the idea for this chapter first thing when I started writting this XD  
> Special thanks to my dad for giving me a cool classic car model to use for this and making me think of The Clash as a dad band cause its his favorite. Also I think its kinda cute that both Bruce and Jason like cars? Its nice when they like similar things like that  
> Bruce does like the Clash btw, he recogniced them inmediately once when Tim was listening to them. As for Jason liking Green day thats my personal headcanon cause that band reminds me of him somehow, also they are starting to fit the old band status now can you believe Green day has been a band since 1990??  
> Also seriously everyone in this family has died (even if some just a couple of minutes) except Tim, I fear for him. And somehow both Jason and Cassandra both got punched back to life and also put in a Lazarus pit, what were the chances of that??


	6. Chapter 6

Tim had been interested in the unofficial new addition to the family Terry McGiniss. Obviously. How couldn't he be be curious? They all were. But going to the manor just to check on him seemed a bit weird, so he held off until he actually had an excuse to go home.

When he finally had a reason to actually go tough, he spent the entire time he was on the cave expecting the interruption that he was sure would come. After all, everyone in this family was curious, and this other dimensional one had to be too. And the newcomer was home alone that day since everyone else was busy, which meant he had to be bored and looking for something to do. It was very probable he would end up in the cave. 

And sure enough, there he was. 

“Oh hey, hello? What are you doing here?” Terry asked once he noticed Tim was there. 

“I'm following up on a case… and I kinda wanted an excuse to come and meet you, if we're being honest” Tim responded, as he took a good look at the other boy. He could definitely see the resemblance to Bruce, the eyebrows were just as sharp. At least he seemed more calm than Damian. Not that that was hard. 

“Oh, of course, yeah. You must be... Tim, right? I’m Terry” the boy introduced himself, looking at Tim with curiosity. And some... fear? No, not exactly. He was more uncomfortable than fearful. Strange. 

“I know. It's… nice to meet you” he replied, toughtfull. He seemed nice, honestly, but he couldn't help being a bit wary. 

“...you don't sound too happy about it” he arched an eyebrow. He was quite perceptive too it seemed. 

“... I have had bad experiences with alternate dimension versions of people from this family. Well, mostly of me, but still” 

“Of you?” Terry asked, confused. 

“It was… an alternate version of me that became Batman. He was very brutal about it. Just don't ever let me become Batman, I don't think that would be good for anyone” he sighed. He didn’t like to remember that alternate future version of him too much, the whole murdering many of Batman's rogues with the gun that killed Bruce parents thing was overly grimm. Not to mention when he came to their dimension and the whole fight that ensued. Damian had told him that Batdrake as he had called him had changed his costume and name from Batman to Savior the last time he encountered him, he wasn’t sure if he even was technically still around. 

“Different universes sure bring strange things I guess” Terry sighed. 

“Yeah no kidding, everytime I heard about alternate universes it’s weird. Conner once told me he was briefly in an alternate universe where Batman trained him and dressed him basically in my Robin costume but with the Superman colours” Tim commented. Conner sure had some wild stories from the time of his solo adventures. 

“Uh I’m gonna guess this Conner guy must be related to Superman if he was wearing his colours…?” Terry asked, tilting his head. Right, alternate universe with no Superboy, Tim had forgotten for a moment. 

“Ah, he’s Superboy. I think Bruce told you he was a clone of Superman made by Cadmus…?” Terry nodded this time, quickly catching on what he was talking about “I thought that was a very weird alternate universe, I mean can you imagine that? A Superboy trained by Batman?” 

“How would he handle a kid with superpowers like that...? That must have been wild” the other boy agreed. 

“Yeah… say, now that I shared, mind telling me why is it you keep looking at me like you expect me to attack you? I'll have you know Damian or Jason are the more fighty kind of siblings here” Tim asked, a bit annoyed he couldn’t figure out where Terry's discomfort came from. The possibilities where too wide. 

“Ah well… in my dimension you kinda… turned into the Joker and almost strangled me…?” Terry admitted, looking a bit apologetic. “I know it’s not you, but yeah…” 

“...okay, you are gonna have to explain that better” 

“Why is it that all of you know about me being B’s blood kid but I have to explain this every time?” he complained, but explained anyway. A rather macabre story about how his alternate self got captured by the Joker for three weeks and turned into him thanks to the work of a microchip. Then he had attacked Bruce in the cave, and tried to destroy Gotham in some kind of big display for his return. It definitely did sound like something the Joker would do if given the chance, so he didn’t doubt he was telling the truth. 

“I see... well, I am not going to turn into the Joker and try to kill you, so rest easy” he said when he finished explaining, trying to make him relax. 

“Easy for you to say, you didn't have to see you literally turning into him right before your eyes. Or have to live thinking of the implications of the Joker having that much control over you” 

“Implications?” he repeated, not sure what he meant by that. It certainly sounded pretty horrible that the Joker would literally physically take over his body, or that he had attacked Bruce and almost destroyed Gotham, but that seemed pretty direct. 

“Other you has two kids. Everytime I think of what the Joker could have done to them...” Terry elaborated, shaking his head. 

“...other me has kids…?” 

“Yeah? He's married to this pretty blond lady who likes purple shirts?” he said, and Tim blinked in surprise. 

“Oh. I…. I see… uh…” he managed to say. A blond that liked purple shirts. It had to be her, who else. But could it really be…? 

“...what is it? Why did you get all embarrassed like that?” Terry asked, probably noticing his sudden realization. 

“It's just… that sounds like Stephanie? I think alternate me is married to Stephanie. And has two kids. Wow” he mumbled, still in a bit of a shock. It’s not like he hadn’t thought that they could have worked out in the long run, but to know for certain that in some dimension they actually did… 

“Who’s Stephanie?” Terry asked. So apparently she wasn’t in his dimension either, a lot of people seemed to be missing there. 

“She is the current Batgirl, guess you haven’t met her. We used to date” 

“Oh I see. Hope you manage to work it out or something? I don't know, you two seemed happy in my dimension” he shrugged. 

“Thanks? Guess I’ll keep it in mind…” he responded “Although my alternate self seemed quite different from me in a lot of aspects” he frowned. 

“A lot of things are different in my dimension man, I don't get it. Like how you are a rich kid here but in my dimension you were a street kid, but here Jason is that, its like you two were mashed together or something in mine” 

“That sounds stupid” he couldn’t understand how their dimensions seemed to differ so much on specific things like that, he couldn’t see how he could possibly have been a street kid. 

“Yeah well… I don't know either” he shrugged “Anyway, seems you were very different in this dimension, uh? Bruce said you came in after… well, after Jason died and he was in a pretty bad place” 

“Yes. He was… he was spiraling into self destruction, just throwing himself at being Batman without any care for himself. I had to do something” It had been rough to see Batman act so carelessly back then… “He needed a Robin, someone to keep him grounded… so I stepped up. He needed a Robin to balance him out, even if he thought otherwise…” 

“You sound so… respectful about Robin” Terry said, seemingly surprised. 

“Why wouldn't I be?” Tim asked. His hero worship towards Batman and Robin had always been something his other family members often teased him for, even though he was not ashamed of it in the slightest. Why would Terry be so surprised about it? 

“Well… my dimensions Tim seemed to hate the idea of Robin. Who knows if it was the Joker’s influence or all the trauma, but he kept saying all the cape stuff was childish…” 

“There's a lot of people who seem to think Robin is a childish concept…” Tim began, observing how Terry reacted to that statement. He was underestimating the role of Robin too. Well, he could fix that “But those people are wrong” 

“Why are you saying that as if youre talking about me…?” Terry tried to deflect, laughing nervously. 

“Because you seem to be one of those people… am I wrong?” the guilty silence he was met with confirmed his suspicions “I knew it. Look, I know it may sound a bit silly to you since you are from a different dimension and Robin hasn’t existed in years for you, but… it’s important. Batman is a hero that scares criminals, yes, but he is also a symbol of hope and heroism, and without Robin there to help him be that he would have been swallowed by the darkness. Or at least… Bruce would have” he sighed “He was getting worse and worse when I had to step in, I had to be Robin. Well, more like I bullied him into accepting me as Robin…” he scoffed self depreciatingly. 

Back then he had hoped at first Dick would just agree to be Robin again, and fix everything, but of course that hadn’t worked. So then he had to do it. Despite Bruce’s initial refusal to have another partner at all. Despite all the difficulties taking the role would entail. Despite all of Bruce’s attempts to make him quit with his harsh training, he didn’t stop. Despite his parents kidnapping and his mothers murder right before he was ready to take the mantle. Despite all of it, he made it to Robin. 

And only for the title to be stripped from him by force. He may still be bitter about that part. 

“For someone who says you bullied your way into this family you seem to fit right in” Terry pointed out, making Tim frown. 

“...I’m not so sure about that” Tim whispered. 

He used to know where he stood, he was Robin until Dick gave it to Damian. So he became Red Robin and searched for Bruce. But even Red Robin had originally been an identity made for a Jason of another universe, so it wasn’t like it was originally his either. He had made it his own now, he supposed, but… 

Sometimes he felt he didn’t belong at all. 

“Oh come on, just look at you. How long were you here glancing over all these notes for the case you’re working before I showed up?” Terry asked. 

“Like, a couple of hours? I think?” he answered, a bit unsure. He tended to lose track of time when he was concentrating on something. 

“See? I knew it, you are like the old man” he pointed at him as if to prove the point he was making “So focused on the work. You need to relax” 

“This is important” he quickly replied. 

“Yeah I know, but you seem to be stuck and glaring at it won't solve it” Terry said as he got closer, taking one of Tim's emptied coffee mugs from the table and looking at it with a frown “Maybe you need to take a break? Sleep a bit probably? You look like you haven't slept in two days and are drinking way too strong coffee for someone your age” 

“Sleep is for the weak” Tim said as he preventively got a hold of the mug that still had coffee on it, in case Terry decided to take it from him. 

“Are you sure it's not you who is B's biological son and not me? Because you are reminding me of him so hard right now” Terry said as he laughed. 

Tim frowned at that. It wasn’t unusual that people compared anyone in the Bat family to Batman, there had been people worried about him having secret plans to take them down or something when that got revealed for example. And he actually had them now, so ok, they probably had a point there. But to get compared to Bruce… that was rarer. Damian got it sometimes with how much they looked alike, but the rest of them not so much. It was oddly nice to hear. Even if it was for the addicted to work thing. 

“... we are not that alike” he protested, trying to hide the fact that he was a bit touched. 

“Actually I think all of you are very like him in a lot of ways…” Terry hummed, apparently amused by his denial. “Or at least all the ones I’ve met so far certainly are” 

“Dick, Jason and me are adopted you know? We can’t be that similar to him…” he reminded him, arching an eyebrow. 

“But you are. You really are. The old man is your dad and you all are like him, somehow” 

“You are too, you know?” Tim replied, making Terry shrug a bit. 

“Jason said I act on guilt just as much as Bruce does, if you are referring to that” 

“That too, but…” how could he explain exactly what he saw of Bruce in Terry in just some short words... “I think you got his hearth” 

“Uh?” Terry tilted his head in confusion at that. 

“Bruce cares... a lot” he tried to clarify “He cares too much in general, that’s why he's so closed off” 

“That's a bit contradictory, don't you think...?” 

“A bit, but not really” he shook his head “He has been closed off from people since his parents died, and he rarely lets his true nature show, even now, even to people he’s known for years. But that’s how he truly is deep down, a caring person. That’s why he keeps taking people in, even in alternate universes it seems” he made a vague gesture towards Terry “It’s just that… he was too hurt when Jason died, because for once he had let his guard down and let himself care about someone without reservations. So he was a wreck after he lost him... and I saw the worst of it. I know how bad it could get. I don't blame him for trying to put some distance after that, it was hard for him to break the habit of trying to keep people at arms length…” 

Bruce was cold to him at the start, but Tim had been well aware of it and why he was that way. He had been too afraid to lose anyone he cared for again, and Tim had understood that and had been fine with their mentor only relationship. He hadn't actually expected anything else. 

And yet he had gotten so much more. He had gotten a father. Tim had suffered so many loses in such rapid succession, he had felt very lost. And Bruce had adopted him, just so he would know he would always belong there. When people said Bruce was cold and unfeeling, they didn’t see the man who took him in. They didn’t see the man Tim had seen help so many lost souls. 

“He is one of the most caring people I have ever met in my life” he finally said, looking at Terry to see if he understood how serious his statement was. 

Terry closed his eyes for a moment, as if lost in thought. He finally began to talk, with the same amount of gravity Tim had just been talking “...the Bruce from my dimension… he is very old, and lonely, and bitter. But... he cares a lot too, deep down. I see it. There's so many people that say he doesn't, that he is just terrible. They don't see him like I do, its… its very small glimpses, sometimes. Like how he made me soup when I was hurt, you know how bad he is at cooking, right? But he made me soup” he laughed a bit “Or how once when he was patching me up and though I was unconscious he kept talking to himself… saying he was being an idiot and nice things about me…” 

Tim couldn't help the smile that spread across his face. Terry got it. 

“...it's hard to deal with Bruce when he's holed up in his armour” he nodded with understanding “I'm glad the one from your dimension has you, at least. Batman needs… someone” 

“... was that pause you wanting to say a Robin?” Terry asked, arching an eyebrow. 

“Okay, yes, it was, its kinda of my thing” 

“Yeah well, I’m Batman already, I’m not going to pass through Robin now” he laughed “But I think I get what you mean, when I first encountered him all alone in that house he was just… sad” 

“Yeah… he was sad when I first came in too…” he reminisced. Sad and miserable, that had been the Bruce he had first encountered. “But you can see how he truly is, just someone that cares too much. You are like that too, it’s just that you are just not as emotionally stunted as him” 

“...thanks…” he scratched the back of his neck, clearly embarrassed “I’m… I’m glad that at least you see a positive similarity like that” 

“I’m sure you are having a hard time accepting he is your dad when you just found out and all” Tim said, a bit curious about how he was dealing with that, he had a feeling he probably wasn’t handling it well, considering this family's track record. 

“Yeah, it's very weird…” Terry agreed “And it’s not just that B is my father, although that would be weird enough. I like him, I don’t mind him being my actual father, it’s just... I keep thinking of my dad, Warren McGinnis I mean” he clarified “He wasn’t a great dad but he wasn't the worst or anything… even if I was angry at him half the time…. The last conversation we had was a fight because he grounded me and I yelled at him, I just… god, I still can't stop thinking about it sometimes, you know? And with all that… I… I don't know if...” he stopped talking, looking at Tim almost pleadingly “How can I… how can I think of Bruce as my father without feeling guilty... after all that?” 

Tim took a deep breath as he thought of how to respond to that. Terry clearly saw Bruce as a parental figure already, but felt that liking him in that way was a dishonor to the memory of his original father. Tim could understand Terry's conflicting feelings, probably better than anyone else. After all, he also had a father before Bruce, and even if Jack Drake hadn’t been great... sometimes it felt wrong to have Bruce in his place now. It wasn’t like his affection towards Bruce erased the one he used to have for Jack, but it felt almost disrespectful to like Bruce more than him. 

And yet… 

He had been Tim Wayne for a while, hadn't he? 

“I don't know why… it seems tragedy always follows people in this family…” he slowly began to say “My mom got murdered right before I officially became Robin, and my dad got paralyzed in the same incident… it was a dark time. My dad, Jack Drake, he was alive when I became Robin and I didn’t… I didn’t tell him about it for a long time. I hated having to lie to him, but there was no other way. He… well he wasn't great either, but he was my dad” he looked at Terry, hoping he was conveying the sincerity of his words “And then he got murdered. And… then Bruce adopted me, officially and everything. So suddenly he was also my dad, and honestly he probably acted like my parent already a lot before that, but it was all very… weird for a while. But I like having Bruce as my dad, he’s… he’s more than earned that title… and just because Bruce is my dad, doesn't mean my actual dad was any less important. Even if… even if he wasn't great…” 

“I… see…” Terry said, biting his lip. “Does it ever... get less awkward...? Because right now I don't even know how I'm going to act around the Wayne form my dimension when I get back to him with this information…” 

“It does get less weird, yes… even with everyone else around here” he honestly answered. He did feel more at ease with Bruce than he ever had with his actual parents, if he was honest with himself. 

For that little time between getting adopted and before Damian crashed into their lives, when Bruce had dropped his barriers and took such a definite role in Tim’s life…. When he started to casually refer to him as his son, as if it were the most natural thing in the world and not something that made Tim feel amazed everytime. When he started to be more affectionate towards him, ruffling his hair and even hugging him from time to time without the slight awkwardness he had before, when it was as if Bruce had to stop himself from doing those things. For the first time, Tim had felt genuinely cherished by his parent. Something he had never felt before. Something he didn’t think he would ever feel. And even if he now had to share that feeling with all his brothers and sister since the Bat family had extended, he wouldn't change it for the world. 

“Yeah… yeah okay” Terry finally said, nodding and taking a deep breath. He finally seemed to relax, smiling slightly “Thanks for all this, it's actually very nice talking to you... You are very good at problem solving” 

“Ah, my true calling, a counselor” he laughed. He truly couldn’t stop himself from trying to help when he saw problems “Nah, I just… I guess I like to try to fix things when I can see the solution” 

“Well, it's nice. And I like that you didn’t try to murder me” he joked, making Tim scoff a bit. 

“Honestly, I half expected YOU would try to murder me” he retorted. 

“What? Why?” 

“Past experience?” he admitted, grimacing a bit “I mean Jason tried, and Damian tried too, and he's also Bruce's blood son and all that so… guess I am a bit biased?” 

“Oookay, that sounds like you got a lot of bitterness there” Terry replied, clearly picking up on the underlying coldness in his tone “Not that I blame you, I would be pissed too if that happened to me I guess. If you wanna vent go ahead” 

“It’s all in the past, it's not worth it to go too much into it” he made a dismissing movement with his hand “Jason saw me as his replacement and he was too crazy with the Lazarus pit madness to not attack me back then. As for Damian, well… he was a little shit and thought I needed to be gone so he could take his proper place as Bruce’s heir or something like that...” he sighed, was it even worth it to tell him…? “He fought with me, and… he punched me with brass knuckles and threw me off the T-rex into one of the glass cases…” 

Damian had been horrible when he had just been dropped in Bruce’s doorstep. Tim knew he couldn’t blame him completely for having been like that at first, god knew growing up under Talia’s care would turn anyone into a murder machine. Damian was undoubtedly better now, trust Dick Grayson to be able to teach even the most indoctrinated murderer something about empathy. But deep down Tim would always have at least some resentment for him for the way he had treated him… and with Dick for having given Robin to him. 

“Holy shit, he really did that?” Terry said, quite surprised “I didn’t know he was that bad when he just got here…” 

“Yeah… I know I shouldn't be that bitter about it” he admitted begrudgingly. 

“I’m surprised you aren’t more bitter about it” Terry replied “I’ve been training with him everyday since I got here, and I couldn’t have guessed he was that bad before… he really must have calmed down over time” 

“Dick influence seems to be able to calm even the angriest demon” he laughed dryly “And Bruce actually spent time with him when he got back from being lost in time. He is still a little shit, but you know, not... some kind of entitled monster” 

“I see… that's good, I mean… I kinda like him, the person he is now. He is nice under all that pride. But I understand how you feel if you had to endure him being at his worst like that. I mean it sounds like he just barged in like he owned the place, right? That must've sucked for you” he put a reassuring hand on Tims shoulder “Sorry you had to get the brunt of that...” 

Tim blinked, caught a bit off guard by Terry’s comprehension. It wasn’t often that people sided with him “...thanks. I don't think… I don't think many have actually… taken the time to see it from my point of view. I know its a bit petty, but Dickmade Damian his Robin after all that and… I guess it just… it made me feel rejected” he confessed “It didn’t help everyone though I was crazy when I kept saying Bruce wasn’t death… it made me feel like an outsider or something” 

Terry smiled, patting him on the shoulder “Dude, I am the biggest outsider here. Even with the sudden blood relation revelation, I'm like… the most useless here. Everyone keeps harping me on how much I rely on the costume” 

“To be fair, it is an impressive costume” Tim remarked. He had taken a look at the costume too when he had just came into the cave. Future dimension technology had been too tempting not to. 

“Right? I mean I can turn invisible and everything with it” he complained “I mean I think Damian training me is cool and all, but maaaan... it makes me feel terrible when a preteen kicks my ass” 

Tim smiled and decided not to correct him by telling him Damian was actually thirteen. 

* * *

“What are you two doing?” Bruce asked, looking at Terry and Tim playing videogames on the couch. Terry had managed to convince Tim to take a break, and somehow he had let Tim convince him playing video games with him was a good idea. A grave mistake. 

“We are playing Smash bros” Tim answered. “Terry insisted I had to rest and I suggested this and turns out in his future dimension videogames are mostly like virtual reality so I decided some controller based game was in order” Tim laughed as he managed to get Terry to lose another life “I am kicking his ass, so this is very fun for me” 

“Oh shut up, this is more complicated than it looks...” Terry complained, as his falcon character returned to the stage only to be hit by Tim’s blue haired swordsman again. Why had he agreed to play a game with such ancient controls? 

“Hnn” Bruce grunted slightly amused, sitting down next to them and watching them play for a bit. “...can I play too?” 

“Uh? Seriously?” Terry asked, a bit surprised. The Bruce of this dimension kept surprising him with his willingness to participate in things like this. 

“Sure, give me a moment” Tim instantly said, getting another controller ready and passing it to Bruce. He didn’t have to explain the controls as he did to Terry, so Bruce must have played this game before. Terry couldnt stop being amazed by this dimension. As Bruce selected his character Tim groaned “Meta Knight? Seriously?” 

“I like him” Bruce simply said, frowning slightly at Tim’s reaction. 

“You know, I should have seen coming you would pick the knight with a cape that turns into bat wings” Terry remarked, laughing a bit. 

“Fine, he is more balanced out than he used to be now anyway” Tim sighed, beginning the match. 

“So… you guys play this game often?” Terry asked, as he tried to not lose the game so badly again. If Terry had any hope of being able to at least defeat Bruce in this game he was soon proven wrong, as now both Bruce and Tim were destroying him with ease. 

“It’s fun and any number of people can play it, so...” Tim explained. “Oh, hey, now that we have you here maybe we could finally have a full eight players game after Cassandra comes, if we invite Stephanie over too” 

“Cassandra is coming?” Bruce asked, smiling a bit at the revelation. 

“Yep, couldn't resist meeting the new brother either” Tim responded “She’ll be here tomorrow” 

“Is it true that she’s a better fighter than you?” Terry asked, glancing at Bruce for a moment. The distraction cost him another life, making him groan a bit. 

“She is” Bruce confirmed “Why do you ask?” 

“Just curious, I guess. She doesn’t exist in my dimension either” he answered, setting the controller down with a sigh when he was completely defeated. Watching Bruce and Tim fight in the game without having to worry about himself was quite entertaining tough. 

“She will like you” Bruce said. 

“Why are you so sure…?” Terry asked. He was a bit concerned about meeting her if he was honest with himself. 

“Because you are a good kid, and she likes good people” he replied, as he got defeated by Tim. He seemed more fondly amused than annoyed by losing tough. 

“I’m still the videogame champion in this house, that was a good game” Tim laughed, setting the controller down as he stretched and looked at Terry with curiosity “Why are you so concerned about Cassandra's opinion...?” 

“It’s just… I’ve heard she really believes in what Batman represents and… I guess I’m a bit afraid I will be a let down when she meets me” he admitted. 

“You won’t be” Bruce quickly reassured him, patting his shoulder “Why are you so insecure about this?” 

“I don't know… I guess it’s just… not many people know I’m Batman where I’m from, so I didn’t feel this judged about it before” 

“I get having to keep your secret identity and all, but does no one besides Bruce and the other Bat family members know?” Tim asked. 

“I actually tried to tell my mom and brother I’m Batman once” Terry confessed. 

“How did it go?” 

“They laughed in my face” 

“Oh”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This two have way more similarities than youd think at first glance with all the secret identity with still one parent alive, and Bruce ended up as a dad anyway kinda things  
> They never did confirm that Tims wife in the DCAU was Stephanie but she was blond and he was dating her at the time in the comics soooo this is my fanfic and we can go with my headcanon, and I think those 2 were adorable together  
> Also Bruce is a very caring person, go watch the video in watchtowers database about the DCAU Batman being compassionate they just released as Im posting this if you dont believe me, I feel im gonna throw that video in peoples face when I see them argue Bruce doesn't care about people  
> Tim ended up being very bitter about the whole Damian thing here but you know, I think thats his natural state by now. And I do love Damian but when he first came in? holy shit he needed to get off his high horse. Funny how Terry got attacked by both Dick and Tim, but not Jason and Damian which are the sibligns more prone to attacking other family members, and attacking Tim a lot too, I tought that was a fun thing to noticeXD  
> Btw what a weird trajectory Batdrake got, first he was in teen titans then detective comics and then somehow ended up in supersons where he changed his costume and name  
> Also I swear to you that dimension where Bruce took Superboy in and gave him a Robin costume with superman colours is real, it was in his Superboy series number 60 and 61, you need to know this happened, can you imagine Bruce trying to take care of the walking disaster that is Conner Kent? I cant evenXD  
> Super smash got to be the game of choice cause literally you can have as many players as you want in that one and I think its fitting theyd play a fighting game like that, I dont know


	7. Chapter 7

Terry was getting too comfortable in this dimension. He didn't want to admit it, but he knew it was true. He liked it here.

He liked having breakfast with Bruce and Damian and whoever else had stayed the night before, and then training with Damian for a couple of hours before being free for the rest of the day. Damian had softened up a little through the week, as they got to talk more and more after each training session. Finding out more things about him was interesting, like the fact that he was very good at drawing. He had seen him draw a sketch of him while they were having a conversation and had been quite impressed. Bruce had been pleasantly surprised when he had come to check on them and found him doing the drawing, so Terry guessed this was a good sign, maybe it showed Damian had accepted him or something. 

He liked how full of life the manor was too. The other bat family members came in and out of the house, probably since they were busy with their own things, but still wanted to spend time with him. Which was good, because at least he always had something to do, since he was still not allowed to go on patrol. He had actually asked but Bruce shot him down, and it was true that he didn’t know this Gotham and would probably be more of a hindrance than a help so he hadn’t really fought the decision. 

He was getting fond of the other boys too, even with the little time they had so far. They always were curious about his dimension, as he was about theirs, so the exchanging of stories was a constant. But they did a lot of things. 

Dick came around the house a couple of times, even hung around during his Damian training time and joined in, so Terry got another guy kicking his ass with ease. At least Dick was much nicer about it, more encouraging than demeaning like Damian. Seeing those two interact with each other was fascinating too, if he had thought Damian was starting to soften up with him it didn’t compare to how relaxed he was around Dick, the man truly had not been kidding about being the Wayne whisperer. 

Jason had roped him into helping him reorganize part of the library, apparently the guy really liked to read and since he was moving back in and Bruce had given him free reign around the place so he got to reorganize it as he wanted. It was oddly endearing to see Jason gush about classic books as they were working, since Terry had revealed he hadn't read many of them besides his school mandated ones and apparently he had to convince him to correct that. 

Tim had asked him to give him a demonstration of everything his batsuit was capable of, which had taken a long while as it turned out, but it was very fun. He enjoyed being able to show off all the abilities from the suit he had mastered, and Tim was very curious about the future technology in general so he had enjoyed hearing about the future batmobile and any other thing he could think of. 

But most of all Terry liked how nice Bruce was in this dimension. He was pretty busy since he was still Batman after all, but he did make some time to come check on him everyday which was strangely comforting. He was also a lot calmer when the others were around… it was strange. Terry was so used to the old man being always on guard around other people, yet the Bruce of this dimension with all his kids… he was happy. He was happy to participate in whatever activity they were engaging in, or just quietly observe, seemingly content to just be around these people. Between all of it, Terry hadn't thought it would be this hard to think tomorrow would be his last day there. He was just trying to come to terms with that while he walked around the manor when he noticed someone else was there. 

By this point he wasn’t even surprised that he was approached by someone he didn't know, but could easily guess, since it was the black haired girl he had seen in Bruce’s family pictures. “Ah, hello. You must be...” 

“Cassandra. You?” she simply said, getting closer now that she had been noticed. 

“Terry. Terry McGiniss, the uh, temporal and dimensional refugee for the week” he answered “You probably knew that tough” 

“My new little brother” she smiled, looking at him with curiosity. She must have been reading his body language if what they said about her was true, he hoped he didn't come off as too nervous. He probably did tough. 

“I… I was going to try to argue with that, but even if I was older than you, I am from the future so I'm still younger, like Damian pointed out” he grumbled a bit “He’s a little beast, the worse brother for sure” 

“I’m the best sister” she happily declared. 

“Uh… you are also the only one?” he pointed out. 

“Yes” 

“You are funny” he laughed softly “No one said you were funny, they all just talked about how badass you were” 

“I am that too. I can beat Bruce” she boasted, obviously quite proud of that fact. 

“Oh man, please let me see that before you go back to Hong Kong” he had seen Bruce fight a couple of times in his stay, Damian and him had sparred a couple of times after he was done training Terry for the day, and he had seen him training with Dick and the others when they came by too. It was truly incredible to see the original Batman in his prime fight, even if it was just training fights. Bruce tended to win most of the matches, which no one was very surprised by. Seeing him fight someone he apparently couldn't easily defeat? That sounded cool as hell. 

“I’ll be happy to” she smiled. “Do you want to fight me too?” 

“Me? No no no no, if Damian kicks my ass as hard as he does I can't imagine what you would do” he laughed a bit sadly. 

“You… are sad that you aren't as good?” she tilted her head. 

“I mean… yeah, a bit… I’m not as good at martial arts stuff, or the detective thing, I can't help but feel a bit bad about it. Even if everyone says I’m fine and that I got Bruce’s spirit or something...” 

“You do” she interrupted him, as she got closer and pointed at his chest “You have heart. He does too, it’s just a lot of people... don't see it” 

“Yeah, I know... I see it” he admitted, smiling a bit “In my Bruce too, everyone is always so eager to point out how terrible he is, how he is like a poison… but I just saw a sad old man who cares a lot, but can’t show it well. I know he cares a lot about me even if he doesn’t outright say it, I mean… he came to rescue me more than once…. It’s just that he’s very bad at showing it sometimes. Like he tried to fire me once, because he didn’t want me to get involved with the Joker when he came back” he tried to explain “He was very harsh then, said something like I didn't know what I really wanted when I told him being Batman was what I want to do... but he was just scared I would get hurt, really… ” 

“Yes. He does that” Cassandra agreed “He’s done that to us too, a lot… tried to cast us out to… protect us. Thinks it's better that we are safe, even if we are angry at him, than to be in danger…” 

“He’s done that often in this dimension too, uh? Yeah, I guessed that had to be a universal constant” he smirked. 

“It had to be” she laughed softly “He can be hard. But you are still there for him after all that...” 

“Well… yeah. I owe him a lot. And it’s not like I’m perfect either, I mean, who else would take in a problem kid who stole from him at first… which is apparently also a universal constant” he laughed at the realization. He couldn’t believe this was apparently quite usual for Bruce, since Jason had told him that he had not only stolen three of the Batmobiles tires, but also hit him with a tire iron, and Bruce had still taken him in. What a truly bleeding heart he had “He is great, isn't he?” 

“He is a good man. You are good too… you like this life, yes? You like helping others” she said, watching him closely as she said that, and seemingly quite happy with his reaction “You must be a good Batman” 

“Yeah...? They said you really care about what… Batman represents and all that… you really aren't mad that I’m not as great?” he asked, a bit cautiously. He had heard from the others that Cassandra really held onto what the Bat symbol represented, so somehow he felt if he disappointed her, he would definitely know he was as bad as he feared. 

“Being a bat is more than skills” she replied, apparently a bit offended by his doubts “Is... wanting to help, is to protect the innocent, is not killing, is being a hero” she pointed at his chest after listing each thing, as if to mark her words “That is what it means to wear the symbol. You have that. You are a good Batman” 

“...you really are the best” he laughed, finally relaxing a bit. Apparently that made her relax too, making her smile and relax her posture, leaning back on one of her feet “I thought maybe you would be mad at me, Damian seemed to think I was too underleveled to be Batman or something...” 

“Damian is harsh. But he is like that to... hide” she said, “He’s… mean to people, even the ones he likes. If he’s mean to you in training, it doesn’t mean he hates you” 

“Ummm... yeah, I think that's true” he admitted. He didn’t think Damian hated him, especially after all those training sessions. He seemed a bit fond of him, in his own Damiany way or something. That didn't stop him from leaving him with a couple of bruises every time tough “It's still a bit humiliating” 

“It’s not humiliating to get better. Good for you” 

“I suppose it is” he sighed “It still feels a bit humiliating” Cassandra was thoughtful at that, taking a moment to start speaking. 

“When I… learnt to understand words, I had problems with my fighting. It was magic, weird” she tried to explain when Terry made a confused face at that first phrase “Batman insisted on training, a lot, said it would take a whole year for me to be back to where I was before... I didn't like it… I actually went to Shiva to train me. And Batman didn't like that...” 

“Who’s Shiva?” he asked, not recognizing that name. 

“She’s… my mother” she said “I didn't... know that, back then. She left me with my father. She's... bad, she kills people...” 

“Your mom is a villain?” he asked in shock, as she nodded “I didn’t know that, everyone just said your story was also pretty hard…” he remembered, feeling a bit guilty for asking now “Is... your dad bad too?” 

“Worse. He's David Cain, he's... terrible” she said, sighing a bit “He… he raised me to be a weapon. A killer. He never spoke to me, only… fighting, violence, that was how I understood the world…. He wanted me to be an assassin, like him. But I didnt… I didnt want to be. I… I killed once, I didn't understand… what I was doing. But when I saw what death was… what killing was… I ran. I ran from him, for years, wandered around...” 

“That's… truly hard, I’m sorry...” Terry said, still trying to process all that. 

He couldn't imagine what having such terrible parents would be like. He had thought Melanie and her situation was bad, with her being part of the Royal flush gang family, but this was a whole other level of terrible. A villainous mother who abandoned her to a father who would turn his own child into a killer…. 

Terry hoped Bruce kicked that guys ass when he undoubtedly crossed paths with him. Knowing him that sounded like what had to have happened. 

“It’s alright, it’s in the past… Cain doesn’t… own me. I’m not what he made me to be” she said, shaking her head “Batman gave me a chance when he found me…. He helped me. He gave me the symbol…” she put a hand on her chest “Purpose. Made me see… I could be more than I was. I wasn’t my past actions, I was who I choose to be” 

“Yes… me too. He gave me that too, a chance to be more than I used to be…” he said, knowing exactly what she meant “Maybe not as dramatically as yours, I was just an ex juvenile delinquent really, but still… it meant a lot to me when he gave me a chance...” 

“I can see that” she agreed “Batman gave you the symbol to make you better too” 

“Do you always call him Batman...?” he asked when he realized she had been doing that the whole time, raising an eyebrow. 

“Oh, um… yes?” she tilted her head, apparently this had to be something that wasn’t often pointed out to her “I met him as Batman... I’m… used to it? He doesn't mind it...” 

“And I tought me calling him Wayne was weird” he snickered “He actually asked me to call him B or Bruce because he didn't like me calling him that, you know? Made him feel old, I think” 

“Ah” she smiled “That, he would mind. He wouldn't like to feel old...” 

“Nope” he said, giggling a bit “ But…don’t you call him dad sometimes…? He adopted you, right? It seems he must be a good dad to you, especially compared to the one you had” 

“Yes. He adopted me…” she confirmed, smiling softly “Sometimes… sometimes I do call him that. Sometimes he needs to hear it. He’s always so… happy to hear it” she was the one that giggled a bit this time “It’s a bit… cute?” she said, as if unsure if that was the correct word. 

“He really likes it that much that you'd call him cute??” he repeated, laughing in astonishment “Wow, being able to read him that well must be amazing, cause I can't imagine seeing him as cute…” 

“He… is not good at talking. But he is so soft, inside” she tried to elaborate, frowning a bit. It had to be difficult to try to explain to someone who couldn't see every hidden emotion Bruce had in his gestures, he guessed. 

“Umm… well, yes, that I can see” he agreed “But to that point, I don't know…” 

“You are soft too, like him” she pointed at his heart a couple of times. 

“Ah…. you know, you’ve all been telling me something like that” 

“Good. True” she insisted. 

“...you really think so, uh?” he mumbled, slightly embarrassed. Why did all this people keep comparing him to Bruce in such a good light... “You like Bruce a lot too from what I've heard, and he likes you too, the others said you are his favorite” 

“His favorite?” she repeated, laughing happily “They said that?” 

“They did yeah, maybe because you seem to understand him pretty well...” 

“Umm, maybe” she conceded “All of them… have problems with him. He is bad at talking, says things he doesn't… truly mean. Or doesn’t say things he should say. They misunderstand, and they fight” she shrugged. 

“Yeah, that does seem to be a constant with all of them...” he nodded. “Me too to be honest, I’ve fought with the one in my dimension a lot of times... I got really mad when he tried to take me off Batman” 

“We fought too, when he took Batgirl from me. I mean a big fight. Physical fight” she said, making Terry quite interested. 

“Really? You actually fought over that?” 

“I was… mad at him. When he stopped me from being Batgirl… he did it because he thought… he was hurting me with it. That he was… using me as Cain did. He wasn’t, but... I was mad at him, especially after he tried to send me away. I tried to be Batgirl anyway... then he found me, and we fought. A long fight...” 

“So… did you win...?” he asked, legitimely curious. 

“We fell to the water, and he… when he took me out, he hugged me” Terry frowned a bit, not seeing how that would end the fight “Cain, he never… he never let me touch him, not for comfort or anything else, only for fighting…” she explained “Batman… he hugged me. He asked me what I was loyal to… and I told him I was loyal to the symbol” she patted her chest “The adoption came way later, but… I think I thought of him as my dad since then…” 

“...I’m glad he found you” Terry said sincerely “I'm glad he found all of us, honestly. Me included, it seems like he has a talent to find people in need of a good parental figure...” 

Dick’s parents had died tragically, but it seemed he had been the only one with good parents before Bruce had taken him in. Jason’s biological parents had both been pretty bad from what he had told him, and even his adoptive mother Catherine of whom Jason had spoken about fondly during their conversation in the car had succumbed to addiction. 

And Tim’s parents seemed a bit… neglectful? Terry couldn't be entirely sure, since Tim had insisted that he liked his dad despite him not being the best, but if Tim had gravitated so hard towards Bruce when his dad had still been alive, well… it wasn't that much of a leap to make that assumption. 

Damian was with his own father already, but from the few things Damian had spoken about Talia Terry could tell having her as a mom wasn’t easy. Apparently she had trained him practically since birth, and with how capable he was Terry was sure that training hadn’t been easy. And Cassandra clearly had gotten a much better parent in Bruce than in her own parents, with her mother practically abandoning her and her father treating her as a weapon. 

Terry supposed he also was an exception, since his parents weren’t that bad. He loved his mom, and his dad at least had tried to be a good parent even if Terry hadn't made it any easy with all his lashing out. Terry’s dad had died right on the day he met Bruce... and Bruce had turned out to be his real father, but Terry hadn't known that till this trip. 

“Yes… Batman he… he believes people can be better” Cassandra said, taking Terry out of his own thoughts “He gives second chances… gave us all a chance. He loves all of us” 

“You sound so sure of that...” he mumbled, a bit surprised by her complete believe. 

“I am sure. He loves us” she insisted as she pointed at her own eyes “I see it” 

“You can read him, right?” he pointed out “It must be nice to be able to know that for sure… everyone is pretty insecure about it, it seems…” a bit of a stern look from Casandra got him to elaborate immediately “Okay, yeah, I'm pretty insecure about it too…” 

“He is insecure too” 

“Insecure doesn't sound like something that would apply to B...” he replied. 

“He is. He is afraid of getting close to us. He is afraid of so many things… afraid we will get hurt if we get close to him, afraid we'll hate him if he gets too close, afraid to lose us, just… afraid” she tried to explain. “I can see it” 

“Afraid…” he repeated, a bit toughtfull. 

It made sense, too much sense in fact. Dick and Tim had said something similar too, and he knew it was true when he thought about it. Bruce was afraid of getting close to people, which led him to him trying to keep everyone he cared about away in some way so they wouldn’t get hurt. Since he had succeeded in being left alone back in his universe, it was something that clearly was true in both realities. 

“Yeah… you are right” he agreed, taking a deep breath “It’s just… hard to imagine he's actually that vulnerable deep inside, you know?” 

“Not really… I have always seen him for who he is” she said, making him sigh. 

“With all that body language reading it feels like you are cheating or something at the trying to understand Bruce game” he complained, making her laugh “So, since you are here and I got all day free, what would you like to do? Since fighting is out of the question” 

“Well... I don't know” she replied as she shrugged. 

“You must have likes and dislikes besides fighting” he tried, as she thought for a moment. Surely there was some activity they could do together for the day, he had managed to find something, or be dragged into doing something, with everyone else. 

“I like dancing?” she finally said, a bit questioningly, but making Terry ecstatic. 

“You do? I like dancing too!” he happily informed her “My girlfriend Dana and I go to the dance club all the time” he continued, making Cassandra clap with joy. 

“We should dance! It will be fun!” she immediately suggested. 

“Sure, but we would need music… although the music here is super old for me” he laughed a bit “Jason got really mad about me saying that to him” 

“I know where there's music” she said, taking Terry by the hand and dragging him to a room Terry hadn’t paid much attention to before, but must apparently be a music room of some kind. Cassandra started getting what he had to guess was some music player and speakers ready, as Terry looked with curiosity. It was weird how old music players looked, or maybe it was just the dimensional difference since technology was a bit different even by past standards in his dimension it seemed. At least it wasn’t one of those disk based music players. 

When the music actually started playing Terry laughed, recognizing the tune as something horribly out of fashion for him. “Yep, this is like hearing classical music to me” he informed Cassandra, but she just frowned a bit at that response. 

“You can still dance to it” she revoked, taking his hands again, but this time as she started dancing with him. Terry took a moment to get into rhythm with her, not used to this style of music, but soon enough they were both having fun and laughing as they danced along. 

“You know, B is totally gonna interrupt us at some point” he informed her, knowing it was just a matter of time before it happened by this point. 

“You seem very sure” 

“He seems to always appear at some point when I meet one of you” he explained “Everyday I’ve been here and one of you has decided to meet me for the first time he has shown up later to make sure we haven’t punched each other out or something I guess, since that seems to be a legit concern to have in this house...” he said, remembering Tim’s tales about Damian’s initial entrance into the family with a bit of a frown. It’s not like he would do something like that, and they all seemed to be way more calm at his appearance than they had been at other siblings in the past, but still, that it was a thing Bruce had actual precedent happening when two of his kids meet must be weird for him. 

“Ah!” Cassandra said when he heard his explanation, as if she just figured out something “He’s… what's the word? Hovering? He’s hovering over you” 

“You mean he’s worried about me and that’s why he keeps checking in on me or something...?” he asked, as she nodded. 

“Yes! That’s what hovering is, right? I used the right word?” she asked excitedly, making Terry laugh. 

“Yes, that's the right word. He doesn’t have to worry about me like that…” 

“He’s going to worry anyway” she huffed “He worries too much. All the time. About everyone. It’s exhausting just to watch him” 

“Right… an overprotective parent at its finest” he snickered as she laughed quietly along with his statement. 

He hadn’t really noticed before, probably since the old man was much more hands off with him then Bruce was, but he was a bit protective wasn't he? At least the one in this dimension certainly was. Bruce was a busy man, between being Batman with all that that entailed and all his other responsibilities, yet every single day he had at least checked on him once, and usually more times than that. He really didn’t need to do that, he was perfectly capable of taking care of himself and all the batkids kept showing up anyway so he wasn’t alone that long, yet he did it anyway. 

Suddenly, Cassandra stopped dancing and looked quickly to the door, almost like a dog that heard a sudden noise or something. Then she smiled broadly, looking at Terry excitedly “You were right, he’s here!” she said, getting to the door the second Bruce came into the room she jumped to hug him without a care in the world. 

“Cass...” he smiled, catching her in his arms easily and holding her up as he hugged her as if she weighed nothing “I’ve missed you...” 

“Hey B” Terry greeted him, somewhat surprised by how easily Cassandra had just jumped into Bruce’s arms, with complete confidence he would catch her. 

“I thought I heard music, were you two dancing...?” Bruce asked with curiosity as he put Cassandra back on the ground, although she remained hugging him. 

“Turns out we both like it” Terry explained with a shrug, as Cassandra nodded happily. 

“I didn’t know that about you Terry, I’m sure you both had fun” the older man said, looking over to Cassandra for a moment before focusing back on Terry “So, you’ve finally met all my children now” 

“I guess I have now, uh...?” he said, recounting how he had actually met all of them now. When the week started he hadn’t imagined they all would really come meet him, but sure enough both Bruce and Damian had been right when they told him they were too nosy not to come “You have quite a colony of bats here” 

“Yes, I suppose I do...” Bruce agreed, as let out a short laugh. 

“They are all very similar to you in some ways…” 

Cassandra looked between Bruce and Terry for a moment “You two are similar too” she said. 

“You think so...?” Bruce asked, arching an eyebrow. 

“You are both bats” she simply answered. 

“Aren't we all here?” Terry asked, a bit confused by that simple description since it could probably be applied to everyone in the bat family, but Cassandra shook her head. 

“No. Dick and Tim are birds, the rest of us are bats” she pointed out “They are… less intense” 

“Bats and birds...” Terry thought about it for a second, it was true both Dick and Tim were a bit lighter than the rest of them “Fair enough I guess, but if we are going by those measures I feel like Tim is more of a bat than Dick will ever be judging by how workaholic he is” 

“Yes...” she agreed “Even if Dick has been Batman” 

“Yeah that's still weird as hell for me” Terry commented, still having trouble imagining the ray of sunshine that seemed to be Dick Grayson as Batman. 

“That reminds me, he’s come around today too if you want to go see him. I think Tim and Jason have come too, actually...” Bruce said to Cassandra, who thought about it for a second before nodding “Ok you go find them, I’ll bring Terry along to get Damian and we can all go have dinner together then” 

“Hovering” Cassandra whispered to Terry before she exited the room, making him laugh and get a confused look from Bruce. 

“It’s… it’s an in-joke, don’t worry” he quickly told him, making a dismissive gesture with his hand. 

“Hnn…” Bruce grunted a bit, apparently sensing he was probably the butt of that in-joke. 

Terry rolled his eyes, a bit amused by that reaction. “So how come everyone came around today?” 

“Because Cassandra is here, and because you are leaving tomorrow” he simply answered, making Terry blink in surprise. 

“What? Really? I get coming to see Cassandra since she's apparently in Hong Kong most of the time, but me? They all came to make this a sorta goodbye dinner for me or something...?” 

“It’s not that surprising, they all liked you” Bruce replied, with a slight shrug “Besides, we don’t usually get to have big family dinners with everyone here that often…” 

Terry was still quite surprised by that. This was just making it even more difficult. It didn’t take him long to get a bit antsy, making him think this would be a good time to have that conversation he had been delaying all week. Might as well try “Hey, Bruce, I umm… there's something I’d like to tell you” he said, grabbing Bruce by the sleeve to make him stop walking. 

He immediately stopped, blinking in surprise as he looked back at Terry, now with a slightly concerned frown. “What is it? Is something the matter?” 

“It’s… I don't know, it’s nothing to worry about really, but…” he began, not sure how to even explain his problem “I… kinda like it here?” 

Bruce waited to see if he elaborated, but when nothing else was said he finally said “...you say that like its a bad thing” 

“I… I kinda feel guilty about it? I just… I don't know… should I like it here that much? I’m not even supposed to be here!” he exclaimed. “And I can't stay! I have responsibilities in my dimension and my mom and my brother, and Dana, and even the old you! I can't leave him alone! He would probably grumble that he doesn't even need me as he makes some kind of robot replacement or something, but he does need me, I... I have to go back, I have to. But I like it here… and I feel really sad I will have to leave… I’m going to miss all of you...” he finally confessed, finally able to take a deep breath now that he got all of that off his chest. 

“Terry…” Bruce began, apparently a bit shocked by that whole rant, Terry couldn't really blame him. “If you like it here that much, you can come back anytime… all the family, me included, would welcome you, I promise” he reassured him, “I mean... you probably have the technology necessary for that. You do live in the future, maybe it's not that far fetched…?” 

“I… I think so? Probably. Wayne probably has something for that, or could get it, if it only took you a week to figure it out here...” Terry replied “But that's not the issue here....” 

“Terry… you don't have to abandon your dimension, I would never ask you that” he insisted, sighing deeply. He massaged his temple, apparently having as much trouble with this tlak as Terry was “Just because you enjoy spending time here, and maybe you’d like to come back sometime, it doesn’t dismiss your love for your own dimension and everyone in it. 

“I… I know you are right, but…” Terry mumbled, biting his lip as he looked down. 

“And… this may be a bit presumptuous of me, but...” Bruce said, putting his hands on his shoulders and making Terry look up again, being confronted by the seer sincerity in the man's eyes and knowing he meant every word he was about to say “I told you when you came in, if... if you want me to be your father, I would be happy to… you don't have to feel guilty about liking the idea” 

So he had guessed that was the underlying problem. Terry had to have seen that coming with him being the world's greatest detective and all. 

“Bruce I… this is ridiculous, I’ve known this you for just a week, and yet… I can't help but feel like...” he mumbled, unsure of what he was even trying to say. That he already felt like he was like a father to him despite the short time they've known each other? Maybe it was just all the time he'd had with the old Wayne, or maybe it was seeing the young one act so fatherly around all his kids paired up with finding out he was his biological father, or maybe it was the easiness in which everyone had acted like a sibling to him and called him a brother. Maybe it was all of it at once. But he couldn't help it, he did like the idea. 

“...you are my son” Bruce said, with the gravitas only he could give to such a simple but powerful statement “Even if you are not from this reality, and even if you decide to never come back here, that won't change” 

Terry took a deep breath, trying not to let those words affect him and utterly failing. He slowly raised his arms to hug Bruce, hiding his face in his shoulder so the man wouldn't see him tear up. Bruce seemed to take it pretty well, hugging him back almost immediately and petting his hair lightly. 

He hadn't really hugged the old man in his dimension. He had thought about it a couple of times to be honest, but… there was always this distance between them he didn’t really know if he should even try to cross. A sorta professional distance between a boss and an assistant, a distance he had been too scared to challenge. But at times, like when Wayne had to come rescue him and could have died putting on that power suit, he had thought about it. He never went through with it though, the closest he had come to it was when he rescued Wayne from that attack from the Joker and had to carry him out of the cave. 

The hug he was getting from this younger Bruce Wayne was certainly as he had imagined it would be. The man was huge, which made it feel like he was just a little kid again surrounded by one of his parents' arms. It felt so… safe. It was exactly what he needed at that moment of emotional vulnerability. 

“You are amazing at this hugging thing...” he casually commented when he felt his urge to cry calm down enough to talk again, making Burce let out a amused short laugh. 

“Yes, I seem to be… I always end up with a kid stuck to me for a while when I give them” he said, as he looked at Terry's face with a small frown “Are you feeling better…?” 

“Yeah… sorry, I got a bit emotional there” he said, rubbing his eyes. 

“It’s alright, I don't mind... “ he reassured him, giving him a pat on the shoulder as Terry began to move away a bit “So… now that you got that sorted out. What is it that you want to do?” 

“I… I think I would like to try to get back here, maybe come by once a week or something, if I can convince Wayne that is…” he said, grimacing a bit at the prospect of having to actually ask him for some kind of dimensional travel machine, it was going to sound like a ridiculous request. 

“It probably won’t be as hard as you think…” Bruce commented, making Terry tilt his head. 

“Why do you say that…? I told you how old you is very… cold, sometimes. I feel asking for a dimensional travel every week just because I like you guys could come off as… I don't know, frivolous of me” 

“Maybe. But…” he paused, looking lost in thought for a second “If I had lost the closeness to my sons in the way you told me he has… and could see them happy again at least for a moment… even if it was some other dimensional version of them… I think I would take it”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was doen entirely from Terrys perspective cause I dont think I could pull of Cassandras honestly  
> I swear I didnt plan that Cassandras chapter would coincide with the Bird of prey release, this somehow happened. Not that the person in that movie is actually Cassandra AT ALL.... Im salty XD  
> BTW fuck David Cain, what a bastard, reading trough Cassandras Batgirl series made me hate him so much.  
> I think Cassandra always called Bruce Batman, and I mean she did meet him as that so fair enough I guess so I stuck to that, but she totally must call him dad sometimes and we all know Bruce melts everytime he gets called dad by any of his kids  
> Also I think Terry likes dancing if all those times he went with Dana to that dance club was any indication, so I let this two have some fun with that  
> Terry deserves a bathug, let him have this, Bruce looks like he gives the best of hugs judging by all the times hes huged his kids


	8. Chapter 8

When Terry got back to his own dimension and back to the batcave he was greeted with the barks of an excited Ace. That soon attracted the attention of old Wayne, who was a bit shocked to see Terry for a moment before he approached and looked him over, obviously trying to see if he was hurt in some way.

After Terry quickly reassured that he was fine and got them both back to the computer room, Wayne started asking questions. The conversation about where the hell Terry had been for a week had taken a long time to get through, and a lot of questions from Wayne since he apparently couldn't believe there was another dimension where him being a dad was even a possibility. 

Alternate universes he could believe, it was hard for him to deny that when he had seen them with his own eyes back in the day. He could even believe that Terry had gone to one and came back, he could even believe time was different in that other reality and he was still in his mid thirties there. The parent of five thing was apparently where he drew the line. 

“I can’t possibly have gotten that many children” he immediately replied when he told him. 

“Well you did, or other you did in any case. I knew you would probably doubt me, so I brought you proof” Terry replied, pulling out the phone they had given him while he was at the other reality and showing him a photo he had taken on the last day he had spent there in which he was with everyone at the house “See? There’s me, and younger you, and his other five bat kids, and even Alfred” 

Wayne slowly reached out for the phone, which Terry let him take so he could take a good look at the picture and take it all in. He had expected the photo would get some kind of reaction out of the old man, he couldn't deny what his own eyes could see after all, and also that it would take him a bit to take that all in. A window into another reality that was that different was a rare occurrence after all. 

After what seemed like an eternity Wayne finally spoke again, looking up at Terry “It’s… it’s really true isn’t it? This… is really a possibility…” 

“Yeah… it took me a while to take it all in too” he confessed “I mean, I'm so used to this manor being so empty and to just dealing with you, getting that many bat people at once was a shock…” 

“I can see Dick and Tim… but who are the others?” he asked as he looked at the picture again. 

Terry went through all of them as he pointed them out in the picture, giving Wayne a small explanation of how each of them came to be into the family, as well as the weird differences between dimensions like how Tim was rich in there. When he finished with Damian he paused, wondering for a moment if he should even mention his discovery, before deciding it truly was one of the first things he had to get out of the way now that he was back. 

“When I was… in the other universe, one of the first things I discovered when they were trying to find a way to get me back is… that I'm your son” he said, a bit hesitant. 

Wayne took a moment to look at Terry before taking a deep breath and nodding “Yes… you are. I don't know how, exactly, but you are” 

“And you knew” 

“I knew since the first time I had to heal you and had to analyze your blood for it” he confirmed, looking at Terry warily. He was probably expecting him to be mad and to confront him about hiding that information from him, but Terry wasn't going to do that. He had had enough time to think it over, coming to terms with the fact that he was biologically his son and that Wayne probably knew. Besides, he knew the reason Wayne had hidden it from him. 

“...the other you said you probably knew” Terry said as he sighed “And that you probably didn't tell me… out of some kind of respect for my dad, for Warren… was that it…?” 

“...yes” the older man said, relaxing his posture a bit after Terry’s calm reaction “The man raised you… and as far as I could tell should have been your father. I'm only your biological father due to some kind of tampering, probably by Cadmus. He was your father… I didn’t think I should ruin that for you...” 

“Alright… alright” Terry took a deep breath. So Bruce had been right about the old man's motives for not telling him. Respect for Warren McGinnis, a man he hadn't even known. Imagine that. “For the record, I still think you should have told me. But I… I understand that you were trying to protect me in your weird way, protect my feelings towards my dad and his memory… that kind of thing is pretty important for you...” 

Bruce Wayne was a man that had been defined by the devotion to his parents memory after all… he wouldn't want someone else to have the memory of his dead father sullied just because of him. Especially since he had nothing to do with his creation, he had been made Terry’s father without even knowing about it, yet he probably still blamed himself somehow for hurting Warren’s memory if Terry ever found out. 

“So... I understand. But now I know” 

“Now you know…” Wayne repeated, frowning “I… I’m not sure how to proceed from here. I was sure if you ever found out you'd be angry at me for hiding it, and try to quit or something of the like…” 

“Nah, I won't quit. I love this job too much” he smiled, leaning back in his chair a bit “I like being Batman. I really do, it's what I want to do… maybe it's even what I was made to do if I was really made by Cadmus or whatever as some kind of backup Batman. But I didn’t become Batman because of that, I did because that is what I like doing, and is what I choose to do... ” 

“...then… do you still want to work with me…?” Wayne asked, apparently a bit confused by Terry’s compliance. 

“Of course I do. But from now on no more weird secrets like that” he pointed out, and got a little embarrassed about what he was about to say “And… we don't have to keep that much distance anymore, if you don't want to. I mean… well, maybe you think you do, but I don't really believe you do, at least not deep down… not after seeing the other you…” 

He had suspected Wayne kept himself at a distance from others before, too afraid to even try to get closer to people after everyone in his life had left him. But he didn’t seem to like being a solitary figure even after all this time, otherwise he wouldn't even have reached out for Terry to work with him after the whole stealing the suit incident. And now Terry knew for certain that at some level Bruce Wayne liked having people close to him, after seeing a world where he hadn't managed to drive everyone away. 

“... I’m… not sure what you want from me… or if I can give it…” Wayne said, clearly conflicted. 

“I'm not sure either… ” Terry replied, getting closer and placing a hand on his shoulder. He honestly wanted to do more, after the hug he had gotten from Bruce he kinda wanted to hug the old man as well, but he thought that would be a bit too much for them right now so he settled “I'm just saying you don't have to keep me at a distance anymore…” 

Wayne looked at the hand on his shoulder with almost disbelief, as if that simple gesture was a foreing concept. It probably had been years since anyone had actually tried to reach him in that way, so Terry wasn't surprised it took him a couple of moments to react and finally place his hand over his, squeezing it slightly. 

“... Terry… I’m glad I met you…” the old man said, in a very soft tone. 

“I’m glad too” Terry replied, letting him hold his hand hostage as he continued talking “I mean, I ended up at your doorstep by mere coincidence, we could have spent our whole lives without knowing each other existed… wonder how the hell that happened when I'm your son” 

“... I don't know. If you want to know more about that we should have a talk with Amanda Waller. She was probably the one in charge of whatever secret project created you...” Wayne explained, as he distractedly moved his fingers over Terry’s knuckles. Terry watched him do it with a bit of curiosity, but didn't dare call him out on it, since it seemed the man was more touch starved that he had ever let on. Small steps, maybe he could work up to a hug next time. 

“We should do that, and probably check if Matt is also your son while we are at it. But, um… I was thinking… and you’re going to think this is dumb or something, but um… you think we could maybe… build some kind of dimension traveling machine or something so I could get back to that other dimension I went to…?” he asked, a bit hesitant. 

Wayne looked at him with some confusion as he asked a simple question “Why?” 

“I… want to go back there. It’s… nice” he said. Waynes still baffled expression told him that was clearly an insufficient answer “It's hard to explain, it's just… I don't know, I really…. I enjoyed my time there...” 

“...is the other me that nice?” he arched an eyebrow, making Terry sigh a bit. 

“Well, he is nicer than you, but that's not the only reason I liked it there. Everyone was nice in their own way, it was just… I felt like I belonged in a way… and I want to go back, if I can. Look, I’m not abandoning this dimension or anything, I still belong here and I’m not leaving” he clarified “I know I just spent a week with them, but my god, I’ve never clicked that fast with people before in my life. I just think it would be good to see them every now and then…. You are rich, we have the technology, we could do it...” 

“Hnn…” he grunted, but did not outright say no, so apparently he was actually thinking it over. 

“You could come over sometime too, even. Meet everyone…” he suggested, remembering Bruce’s words about him probably not being that resistant deep down. “Then you could see for yourself that everyone is fine there…” 

“...we will see” 

* * *

In the end, Wayne had agreed to make the machine to travel to other universes. It had taken some time to build, but surprisingly it wasn’t that hard to actually make it, a very primitive version of it had been made by Waynes old justice league days when they had to confront the justice lords after all, so they just had to refine it. 

While they were working on that they had also checked on Matt and it turned out he also was biologically a Wayne, as apparently whatever experiment Cadmus put in motion made it so Warren’s kids had Wayne’s DNA and not Warren’s. They both decided not to tell him for now, it was weird enough for Terry to know. They would eventually, maybe by the time Terry actually revealed to his family that he is actually Batman and they believed him. 

When the machine had been completed Terry decided to test it by going to the other universe for a day and coming back, Wayne had been a bit reluctant but there truly was no other way to test it so he had to let him do it. It had all worked as it should and he had spent the day catching up with everyone who was at the manor at that time. He told them he would come back next week so everyone could be there next time, since he was going to try to convince the old Wayne to come for that visit. 

It had taken practically that entire week of insisting on it, but he had finally agreed. They had everything ready to go, but when they were about to go through, Wayne hesitated. 

“Terry, I don't think this is a good idea…” he said. 

“Come on Wayne, we’ve been over this” Terry replied “It will just be a day, can’t you have fun for a bit?” 

“I… I will probably just ruin it if I go with you” the old man insisted. 

Terry smiled softly “You are scared aren't you?” Wayne didn't answer, but he knew he had found the problem “They won't instantly hate you or anything, you know?” 

“You don't know that” Wayne replied “Besides… they already have a Bruce Wayne, I would be… redundant” 

“True, but I don't think they will mind. And it will be good for you to hang out with other people for once. We can even bring Ace, I bet Damian will love him” 

“Hnn…” he grunted, petting Ace’s head absentmindedly. 

“Come on, at least try it once. I won't force you to go again if you truly hate it, even though I doubt that will happen” Terry insisted. 

Wayne was almost about to resist again, but finally sighed, grabbing his cane as he walked towards the machine “I will go this time… but I won’t guarantee I’ll make anymore visits” 

“Right, right… we will see about that” he laughed a bit, as they both got through the portal to the other dimension. It took them to roughly the same place they were just in, which meant they were down at the cave. Terry gave Wayne a moment to take in how different but similar the place was, before insisting they got up to the manor since that's where everyone would be. “Hey! I’m back!” he called out from the entrance, as he waited for Wayne to get up the stairs. 

It didn’t take long for Bruce, along with Damian and Dick to come greet him, since they probably were just waiting for him to get there. “Terry, I see you made it” Bruce greeted him. 

“Yep, and I actually managed to convince him to come. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you: old Bruce Wayne” Terry theatrically said, as he stepped out of the way to let everyone see him, as Ace took the opportunity to just get into the room as well. 

The reactions from everyone were quite amazing. 

“I… can't believe I could get this old...” Bruce said, looking at his older self with some shock. 

“I can't believe I ever was this young...” Wayne replied. 

Seeing both of them next to each other was actually really strange, like seeing two photos of the same person years apart next to each other but in real life. They also sounded almost the same, which probably didn’t help with the weirdness of it. 

“This is cool in a very very weird way” Dick said, making Wayne look at him and blink in surprise before recognition set in. 

“Dick. It's… good to see you” he managed to say, clearly a bit shaken by his presence “Although it’s… strange, to see you this young” 

“I guess it must be weird for you….” Dick agreed “Did Terry give you an overview of everyone?” 

“More or less…” 

“Father, this dog is wonderful” Damian said as Ace approached him and nudged his hand, making Bruce look over at him with a sigh. 

“Damian, you can't keep my older selfs dog” he quickly pointed out. 

“I… I know, obviously” he quickly replied, but began petting the dog regardless. 

“You are Damian then…” Wayne said, approaching him and smiling slightly when Ace tried to get them both to pet him. 

“Yes, um… how should I refer to you? Older father?” he asked, tilting his head. 

“...I… guess just father is fine if that's what you call my other self…” Wayne said, clearly taken by surprise by the title. “It might… take me a while to respond to that tough” 

“...I like your dog” Damian insisted “Would you like to meet mine? Titus!” he called out, getting the other dog to approach immediately, since it must have been hovering near his master. Both dogs looked at each other warily for a second before relaxing, as they then focused on the new people for them that were there. 

“You have a good dog too” Wayne complimented, petting Titus in the head with a slight smile when the dog approached him. 

“Yes, I do” he proudly stated. 

“Great, they are bonding over pets, we are going to end up with an actual menagerie if they keep up” Dick said to Terry, making him laugh a bit. 

“What did you expect? They practically have the same kind of dog” he shrugged. 

Suddenly Wayne got a bit tense, turning around and coming face to face with Cassandra, who had somehow sneaked up on him. He looked at her a bit confused “You are… Cassandra, right?” 

She nodded, watching him closely for another second before apparently making a decision and hugging him, which caught him completely off guard. He stiffened, almost letting his cane drop even, and only after a couple of seconds did he begin to relax slightly as he at least put an arm around her. 

“See, this is why she's the favorite” Dick whispered to Terry “Only she could get away with that with a Bruce she's just met” 

“Totally the favorite” he agreed “I’m barely managing the courage to get to shoulder pats” 

“You can relax here” Cassandra said to the old man as she loosened the hug, but didn't really move away “We are family. It's alright” 

“...it's going to take a while” Wayne said. 

“We have time” she insisted, moving away this time “Just enjoy it” 

“...I’ll try” he replied, making her smile and him look slightly dazzled by it, somehow. Terry didn’t think he had ever seen him like that before. He had never envied someone else's insight into Bruce Waynes strange mind before more than at that moment. 

As he was about to ask where everyone else was, Jason entered the room, carrying a popcorn bowl. “I’m hearing a lot of noises did Terry come already? Oh my god” he said, as he stared at Wayne in amazement “Holy shit Terry you actually convinced him to come, he’s actually here, he's SO OLD” 

“I know. Um… Jason was it?” Wayne said. 

“Yes, the original I stole from you and you took me in like an idiot kid of this universe. Seems you're weird like that in all universes” Jason smiled, staring openly at the old man “Holy shit, I never tought I’d see Bruce being this old, it’s fucking weird... ” 

“Hnn” the old man frowned “I see why Terry has begun swearing so much since he came back from here, I had been wondering about that…” 

Terry let out an indignant yell at that. I mean, he guessed he had been using old swear words instead of the ones from his own a bit more often now that he thought about it... but he hadn't really done that that much had he? Was he that easily influenciable?? 

“What? Are you saying it's my fault?” Jason gasped theatrically “You are saying I’m a bad influence on the kid?! How dare I!!” 

“I’ve been trying to correct his language for years, but it hasn't really worked” Bruce explained when Wayne just glared at him “I’ve given up by this point” 

“Honestly I prefer the old swear words to those he used to say anyway, but… it’s the principle of the thing…” Wayne replied. 

“Oh whatever old man, I’ll swear in whatever era swears I want” Terry complained “Anyway, why the hell do you have popcorn?” he asked Jason. 

“Oh yeah, I was coming up to say the popcorn is ready and Tim is getting the movie ready in one of the media rooms but got distracted…” 

“So we are watching a movie today?” Terry asked. 

“Yeah we thought if you managed to convince him to come that would be an easy activity to do” Jason explained, shrugging. 

“What is the movie we are watching?” 

“Something in your honour” he replied, snickering and making Terry raise an eyebrow with suspicion. 

While they went into the media room they had decided to use Terry got saddled with carrying a bunch of popcorn on the way. Between all the popcorn and all the drinks it was a bit ridiculous how much they were all carrying, but they really were a lot of people there that day. 

“Oh he did come, cool” Tim said looking over at them when they finally got to the room, while he was still finishing up getting the tv ready. 

“Tim…” Wayne said, looking at him with a sorta nostalgic look as well. Tim just tilted his head a bit, with a very slight smile. 

“Hi Bruce…” he said, seemingly a bit shocked by Wayne's reaction to him, Terry guessed he couldn't really blame him much. “I'm surprised you actually came, I guess we are watching this movie then” he said as he moved the cursor over from where it was to another movie and making Terry groan when he saw what it was. 

“...The mask of Zorro? Seriously?” he complained “I thought I could escape the Zorro movies here” 

“It's about the original Zorro teaching a younger kid to be Zorro! It's perfect” Dick declared, laughing “We would have gotten a Batman musical but there isn't any in this dimension” 

“...why did you have to tell them about that… thing?” Wayne groaned as he glared at Terry. 

“Wow you really did hate that musical” Dick laughed “But come on, it will be fun” 

“Next time we could see the Grey Ghost if you’re feeling nostalgic” Jason commented to Wayne, but that name made Terry frown. Grey Ghost… where had seen that… 

“Wait, wasn’t that the costume that's down at our cave?” he suddenly remembered “He’s a fictional character? What's the costume doing in the cave then?” Terry asked Wayne, getting a smile out of him and a bit of a reaction from Bruce who looked at him with a frown. 

“Wait you have the Grey Ghosts costume? How? They were so hard to find...” he asked, legitimately curious. 

“We were on a case together once, I think I’m allowed to keep it there” Wayne answered, actually getting Bruce to gasp. 

“You meet him?” 

“I got his autograph too, on the first edition of the show that was ever released” Wayne said with certain pride. 

“What the hell is happening??” Terry asked, looking at the others in confusion. 

“We are getting a Grey Ghost dork fest over here” Jason explained “Didn’t he make you watch some episodes with him at some point? He’s done it with all of us...” 

“I’ve barely seen him watching that old Zorro movie, this is news for me… I didn’t know he could be this geeky over something” he replied, laughing a bit. 

“Enough with this! We shall see the Grey Ghost some other day if you’re that excited over who has more merchandise of it” Damian complained to both of the Bruce’s “We are here to watch the Zorro movies today” 

“Someone’s impatient” Terry commented. 

“And likes movies with sword fights” Dick pointed out, as they started the movie. 

It was actually a pretty fun movie. Terry hadn’t seen this one before, he had seen the old one out of curiosity when he saw Wayne see it, but he hadn't really gone out of his way to watch all Zorro movies or anything. He hadn’t known there was actually was a Zorro movie about the original training a new one, who would have thought. Everyone was pretty chatty during the whole thing, but it was a pretty light hearted movie so it wasn’t really annoying or anything, actually they were all pretty funny. 

Wayne seemed to take the whole experience pretty well, which was good because Terry had been a bit worried he would be overwhelmed by all of them at once. Just like his younger counterpart, they both were a bit more silent than everyone else, but seemed to enjoy just being around these people as they simply relaxed and watched a movie together. Nice to know this was a common reaction from them. 

As the movie finished up and they all began chatting more openly while they cleaned up all their plates and stuff. Mostly they were curious about old Wyane, as they were bound to be, and he actually answered a lot of their questions even if sometimes a bit short worded. But soon someone asked a question Terry had been wondering for a long time. 

“What was is that made you quit being Batman anyway?” Tim asked “Because I can’t imagine what would actually do it. I mean, I’ve seen the Bruce from this dimension go on after getting his spine broken, I don't know what the hell would make you actually stop, unless you died, but you are clearly not dead so...” 

“...I don't want to talk about it” Wayne answered, but they didn’t let him off this time. 

“You know, you never did tell me what was it that did it” Terry pointed out “I thought it might have been the Joker dying thing and maybe you did it but nope, it was Tim, and you still kept going after that. So what was it?” 

“I haven’t told you in all the time, and I still don't want to tell you Terry” he grumbled. 

“I would like to know” Bruce insisted “I also find it hard to believe something would be able to make me stop… ” 

“It partly must be your age, clearly” Dmaian remarked “But it is more than that, or you wouldn't be this stubborn about telling us. If you do, maybe we can prevent it from happening here at least, think of that if nothing else…” 

“Tell us” Cassandra insisted. Apparently Wayne was as weak to her as Bruce was because that one made him actually frown. 

“I… it’s not something I’m proud of” he tried to argue. 

“Of course you are not, you wouldn't have quit over it if it was something nice” Jaosn replied “We’ve all done things we are ashamed of, just tell us, at least we can pass judgement and get it off your conscience” 

“We won't actually judge you, Bruce” Dick clarified “We just want to know what we are working with here, I guess… and we are all too curious, we won't stop asking. You might as well tell us now…” 

Apparently the assault on all fronts actually got Wayne to run out of arguments to not tell them, as he just glared at them for a bit. 

“...fine” he finally gave in, seeing that no one else would budge “...I was trying to rescue a kidnapped woman… she was being held by just a couple of no name punks, it should have been an easy job. It would have been, a couple of years earlier. I beat them up, get the woman out… easy. I managed to fight most of them and got to the woman, but…” he put a hand over his chest, grasping his shirt “My heart acted up. I… I was on the floor, barely able to move, and one of them came back and started beating me with some kind of metal bar… he could have killed me right then. He probably was going to, I was… I was in pain, and about to die. And then I… I did something I thought I would never do” he closed his eyes, with a suffering expression. It was taking a lot out of him ot share this story “I picked up one of the guns off the floor and pointed at him” 

A shocked silence reigned over the room at those words. Bruce hated guns. That was a well known fact, everyone in the room knew that he had some kind of phobia to them. A almost visceral hatred and fear of them due to them being the weapon that took his parents life. To hear him say he actually pointed a gun at someone… was almost inconceivable. 

“I didn't… shoot it, I didn't fall that far. But I pointed it at someone just to save my own life... I knew it then, if my body was failing me so hard that I had to resort to using a gun… then I had to stop. It was over. I couldn't be Batman anymore…” he paused, looking over at Dick and Tim “All the others had left by then, moved on… even all the rogues were gone. I was the last one… and I couldn't do it anymore…. so I hung the suit in the glass case along with all the others and vowed to never again pick it up...” 

Terry didn't know what exactly he had expected, but now he knew why Wayne had been so secretive about the reason why he quit. That moment clearly still hunted him, tortured him like many other instances in his life. 

Bruce was the first one to react, looking at his older self with a comprehensive look “So that was your last night as Batman… a tragic end for a long career” 

“A sad end” he concurred “Which is what we have always expected...” 

“Yes… it could have been any of the villains, it could have been that punk that hit you that night, but in the end… it was a gun” 

“Poetic, in a way...” he said, almost wistfully. That finally made Cassandra react, as she got near him and placed her hands on his face to make him look at her. 

“Your… body, your heart there may have failed you… but your real heart, it's still… it's still good, it's still who you are… you're still Batman, here” she pointed at his chest “Still a good person” 

“...thank you, Cassandra…” he said, a slight smile “It… means a lot to hear you say that, after that story…” 

“I think we all think the same, old man” Jason said “And take it from someone who has actually shot a lot of guns at people, the fact that you couldn't even shoot it means a lot… you are still good, you shouldn't feel that ashamed of having more integrity than a lot of people would...” 

“I think I could have handled that story at some point, Wayne…” Terry said “But maybe it's better that you have told all of us, so you can see that we all still like you despite past mistakes…” 

“...thank you, but… don’t be so soft on me” Wayne complained. 

“We are not being soft. You were in a bad situation, and your body failed you at the worst moment” Damian replied “You were alone, and could have died. As Todd pointed out, weaker men would have pulled the trigger. You didn’t. Despite the disgrace you think you brought unto yourself with the mere action of picking up the weapon itself… you did not use it. And that tells us a lot about yourself” 

“I think what Damian is trying to say is that you were a good person, even with everything that was going on…” Dick tried to chime in “I'm sad you had to even be in that situation… you could have died all alone out there…” 

“And I’m sorry I brought out such a painful memory…” Tim apologized, which Wayne was quick to respond to. 

“No, it’s alright… you didn’t know it was so complicated. I… I haven’t told anyone before. No one… knew before...” he said, thoughtful for a second. “Maybe… maybe I did want to get it off my chest…” 

“Well… if you are sure…” he replied, a bit surprised by how quickly Wayne had addressed him. “We should probably get this room clean from all the stuff we ate and all… will you be alright?” 

“I’ll stay with him” Bruce said, which everyone just nodded to as they started working on getting everything down to the kitchen. 

When they got everything Jason said he was going to help Alfred clean up a bit first, so he sent everyone back up saying he would get there soon. Terry was about to get back into the room when Dick stopped him at the doors frame. Cassandra, Tim and Damian were in the other door frame, also sneaking around. Terry was confused for a second before he noticed only the two Bruce’s were in the room, and the two of them were talking. Dick put a finger in front of his mouth to tell him to shut up and listen, and like the overly nosy person he was becoming ever since he became a bat, Terry did, because he actually was interested in what the hell those two would talk about. 

“I’m glad you managed to take all of this in ok… they can be a lot” Bruce was saying. 

“They sure are, I can’t believe you seriously have this many kids…” Wayne commented. 

“It’s not that hard to believe… you had Dick and Tim too, you must understand why I took all of them in…”he said “Terry was taken in by you too, that part of you hasn’t disappeared…” 

“....do you pity me?” Wayne asked, as he noticed how Bruce was looking at him with a sad look. “Terry told you about me and what happened to leave me alone when he found me, right? You know I don’t really… have such a close relation to Dick or Tim in my dimension…. Do you pity me?” 

“...not exactly” Bruce answered, sighing a bit “I just… know what you must feel like, partly. I guess it's more empathy than anything…” 

“How could you possibly understand…? You say that as if you didn’t have a family here… you don’t know what it’s like to live in a fully empty house” Wayne replied, looking over at his counterpart. “Completely empty. No one except me until I actually got a dog, that’s how unbearable it was. This house is so… it’s so alive…” he said softly, almost wistfully “With so many people who clearly care about you, who don’t hate the mention of you… who don’t think you're poison or just manipulated them as some kind of pawns in your war…” 

Terry almost cringed at the memory of his dimensions Dick uttering those kinds of words filled with hatred towards Wayne, remembering hearing him describe him as exactly that. Wayne had probably heard him more often than he had, and still they clearly affected him. 

“...it wasn’t always that way” Bruce slowly replied “It’s... taken a lot of work to get to this point…” 

“Has it now…?” the older man grumbled, almost disbelieving. 

“...Terry gave you a resume of everyone, right?” he asked, and Wayne nodded “Then he must have told you that Jason… died. And after that I closed off. I didn’t really want to get close to people anymore, they almost had to force me to with Tim. But the thing is… when Jason came back from the dead, he was… mad at me. Actually that may be putting it too lightly, he was furious, and the Lazarus pits influence didn’t help, making him lash out at me” 

Jason, who had also joined the listening into the conversation party, shifted slightly uncomfortable at that. Apparently he was still a bit ashamed of all his furious raging. 

“I… I didn’t really do much about it, for a long time. I just let his anger fester and did nothing unless he confronted me first. I thought in a way I… deserved it, I suppose. I've always felt that… people getting too close to me always got hurt because of me. And you are me, and after hearing what happened to your dimensions Tim and Dick, I know… I know you must feel the same kind of guilt…” 

Wayne didn't say anything, but the small hitch in his breath at those words were enough of a confirmation. 

“So I know you must also understand how I thought that… if he hated me, that was fine… that I couldn't… should’t ask for anything else, couldn't even dare to want anything else from him. Because I had failed him before…” he paused, as he closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “He’s… he's here now, he's alive and well, he's not angry with me anymore, he's almost back to loving in the manor and yet… sometimes I still feel… I still feel…” 

“...like you don't deserve him back...” Wayne completed “Because you could never make up for how you failed him... nothing you did would be enough, nothing you could offer could compensate that… so maybe then it's better if he stays away…” 

“Yes… because at least if he was away from me, at least he was safe…” Bruce continued, picking up on how Wayne was actually engaging in the conversation now “But in reality... that was just hurting both of us even more...” 

“...you seem to be getting along well now…” Wayne said, in that tone that implied a question despite it being a statement. 

“It's taken a lot of time. A lot of work, on both of our parts, and of the rest of the family as well… he's worked very hard to redeem himself for what he did during his worst moments and I've worked hard to stop putting all my barriers up around everyone. Jason isn't the only one I've fought with, I've had big fights and falling outs with all of them… but we've worked it out. And I'm working on being better, just as they are… its hard sometimes, but it's worth it… they are worth it” 

“Yes… yes they are” Wayne finally said. “Ever since the whole Joker’s return thing was over… the Tim from my dimension and I have at least started talking again. Not often, because I… well, you know. But ever since Terry came back from here… he's been trying to make me not… pushing people away anymore. Or at least him… and it's made me actually call Tim again…” he confessed. 

“Terry can be quite stubborn, just like his old man” Bruce said, with a little smile, making Wyane huff. 

“You don't know the half of it. But yes, I… I see what you meant, with all that. And I’m sorry, I shouldn't have… said you couldn't possibly understand… there’s things I’ve gone through that you haven’t, but there’s things you've suffered that I haven't. I haven't… lost any of them to death, but you have” Wayne said, actually reaching out and briefly touching Bruce's shoulder “Even if somehow they are back now, that… I can't imagine how that must have been...” 

“...you remember that… that emptiness, that blackness in our heart after Crime Alley…?” Bruce said, as he glanced down. “That feeling that nothing in the world made any sense anymore, that nothing would ever be right again…? That sad realization that we would never see them again…” 

“I will never forget… even after all this time...” Wayne simply said. 

“It was even worse than that...” he explained “Because I… I thought maybe I could have done something about it this time. I've thought that, everytime one of them has suffered… but with Jason it was the first time I've felt that feeling again. That emptiness, that suffering that never left me, I just…” Bruce mumbled, his voice trembling with emotion “My boy, my son… dead in my arms… I thought losing our parents was the worst thing that could happen, but no… a father should never have to bury his son…” 

A moment of silence stretched over the room, between the onlookers. That little hearth to heart moment was probably something none of them had ever heard before either, if Terry had to guess. 

“...I'm sorry…” Wayne finally said. 

“Be glad you havent had to feel that, Bruce” he said, looking at Wayne straight in the eyes “Be glad your children are still alive, be glad that Terry found you and is willing to stay by your side. And work on it, never let the fear of loss make you send the people you love away again… because it's hard to have them come back after that, as you know...” 

“...I'm glad Terry met you too, all of you really. I think… all this is good, for him, and for me…” he said “You are right. I shouldn't… I shouldn't be a coward, trying to keep them and myself from being hurt by keeping everyone at bay. And I shouldn't take for granted the fact that they are alive, and I can still talk to them. Or take all the people here as just some kind of fantasy…” he made a gesture to encompass the whole dimension “I understand now why Terry liked it here so much that he wanted to come back… and why he insisted I come. I think… I think I'd like to come again when he comes to visit you, if you'd have me…” 

“Of course. You are both always welcome… and if you ever convince the other Tim or Dick to come as well, I would never say no” Bruce said, making Wayne smile a bit. 

“...we will see” he was thoughtful for a moment “Also, about Terry… if anything ever happens to me…” 

“I’ll watch over him” Bruce quickly answered “I promise” 

“Thank you…” he said, taking a deep breath and leaning on his cane for a moment. “...I'm too old, too old to have such a young son...” he sighed “I won't be able to be there for everything… but at least you'll be” 

“Who knows, maybe you'll outlive me” Bruce jokingly said. 

“You are not allowed to joke about that, you have five children depending on you” Wayne chastised him. 

“I know… It's wonderful…” he said, looking over to the rooms entrance “Speaking of said kids… mind getting out here in the open?” 

“Oh man, how long have you known we were here?” Terry complained. 

“More or less since Jason joined” Wayne told them. 

“What? I’m sneaky too!” Jason complained. 

“Yes, but not as much as everyone else… we should work on that” Bruce reprimanded “It’s fine tough… sorry if you didn't want me to talk about any of those things regarding you…” 

“Ah, no, it’s… it’s fine. You two were having a moment, and… it was informative, I guess” he mumbled. 

“It was all true…” Bruce said, making Jason scratch the back of his head embarrassed. 

“Yeah, yeah I know…” he confirmed, a slight blush on his cheeks. 

“I’m glad at least you listen to yourself, old man” Terry said to Wayne “It’s hard to get this kind of thing through your stubborn head” 

“Yes… it’s lucky you are also just as stubborn” he said, smiling slightly as he actually raised his hand and pat Terry on the head, leaving Terry completely stunned. Wayne didn’t do that kind of thing, it was so strange he actually thought for a second he was daydreaming or something. 

“Did… did that just happen? Or did I imagine it? Is this real life...?” he mumbled, looking around and getting amused smiles all around. 

“Give us some time Terry, keep bringing him and we will manage to melt the ice king here to the point he will be the one to give you a hug” Dick reassured him, as he got an arm around his shoulders “I think you both need that” 

Terry laughed softly, still in disbelief. This had gone way better than he had ever hoped for.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> boy this got longer than I tought it would, and theres a lot of talking, but hey if you made it this far into this you probably noticed my writting is like 80% people talking anyway so XD  
> you know, I think old Bruce Wayne needs all the hugs, but I think only Cassandra would be able to see it and brave enough to just do it out of the blue  
> You ever noticed that mask of zorro is basically Zorro beyond? cause I do, I think its fun, so I put it hereXD also I know the Grey Ghost thing came from the DCAU but Bruce is always a Grey Ghost dork in my mind, so I jsutm ade it so the team up thign they had only happenedi n the DCAU then, makes sense to me  
> Terry did ask several times why did old Bruce quit being Batman and never got the real story, so hey since it hurts me, I might as well put it here. Along with all that angst regular Bruce has from his kids dying and Jason hating him for the longest time, maybe old Bruce will listen to himself give advice if nothing else rigth? I think so anyway  
> Theres too many people here, I fear I may have rushed this whole last part... but I think you get my general meaning anyhow. This is my fanfic and we go with what I like so this kinda works for them, I think, weekly visits or something, its nice

**Author's Note:**

> There needs to be more fics of Terry meeting the Batfam so here I am with this, right on time before the year where Bruce retires in the DCAU ends  
> Also fun fact in Countdown Jason saw Batman Beyond for a second from a distance, that was a thing that happened, if I had to read countdown cause Jason was in it you have to know this happened


End file.
